Riley Donahue- Youth in Politics

Meet Riley Donahue and how she got involved in politics at such as young age. She is already making a positive splash in the political arena and VOA is here for it. 

https://www.facebook.com/riley4md/

rileyd4md@gmail.com

Transcript

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These are the voices, these are their stories. Voices of Annapolis dive in. Hey guys, welcome back to Voices of Annapolis. Uh Kelly Bell here, and we have Gretchen Moran. Yes, how are you, Dark? How are you? I'm fantastic because of the big news you emailed me yesterday. You want to tell the folks? 1000 downloads. Not bad for uh every other week. Uh and it only been six months. Riffing with locals. I think there's a there, there. I think we've tapped a vein or whatever you is that a bad way to put it? Depends on what vein you're talking about. God. Sorry. Yes, I think we have definitely resonated with the community that we wanted to resonate with, an average of 62 downloads per episode. Not bad. Again, for a couple of girls just riffin'. Yeah. Fist bump, high-five, all the things. Um, so you mentioned that this might be a good time for us to talk about sponsorship. I think we should, yes. It's gonna make our hobby a job. I mean, this has been fun. Is it gonna make the fun go away? I hope not. And again, it's just you know, something to, you know, I'm always covered, I'm like Michael. I'm gonna knee-jerk to the negative until you get me comfortable with it because I don't understand what it looks like. So, what does it look like to get sponsors? Uh well, we have to beg, plead, grovel. I think I think we're the popular girls. I think everybody wants to be with us. We either think we're the popular girls and we're just the popular girls. We're in our own little padded room, you know, maybe. But you know, can't two things be true? It two things can be true. So, I mean, if you want to be part of our padded room, we'd love to have you. We would. So, yes. And I think there's some great exposure with local community for maybe some of our folks who are running for office, we could start there, or even other local businesses. Um, you know, being a sponsor doesn't mean you can't also be a podcast guest. Oh, we definitely want you on as a podcast guest. That would actually be if you haven't been on before and you want a sponsor, we can get you on and doing it. All right, so we're gonna do the sponsor thing. Yeah, let's so if you're interested in being a sponsor and helping me and Gretchen, you know, feed our guests when they come in, then uh then maybe give them some water. That'll be great. Um, the little the little extras that we want to be able to provide. Well, that sounds great. So in in that vein, we have some. Well, let me give the email. They need to contact me. How do sponsors contact you? We're so excited about our guests. Um the email that you can email to uh wanna be a sponsor is Kelly Bell at the Bellhouse Catering.com. Of course, I'll put in the show notes. Yep. Kelly Bell at the Bellhouse Catering.com. And Gretchen, take the lead. Yeah, so I met this young lady at the Women in Leadership event at St. John's College in March, room full of powerful, smart women. Kelly catered it. Uh you saw the you saw the drill there, a lot of networking going on. Definitely a room where you gotta be able to hold your own. And I didn't know this young person was only, I mean, I don't want to be ageist here, but only 22. I was gonna say she definitely brought down the age in the room for sure. So our average today is um Riley Donahue. She's running for a local office, District 32. Wait, what? Serious. She's how old? She's 23, running for District 32 Democratic Central Committee. Um, but like this is not her first rodeo in leadership. She's been a D1 basketball player. She has um been on the Division I NCAA Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Uh she's been on the American East Conference Student Athlete Advisory Committee. We're talking to a this is our future right here. Oh, yeah. So, Riley, welcome to the show. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Very excited to be here. And I love that you gave me an age. I'm 24, so but I'll take it. I'll take it. You're just another one. 20 somewhere. 20 somewhere. So we are so excited. So we love everything about leadership. Um, and I don't I used to say leadership in young women. I love seeing leadership in young people, and we're even titling this episode like youth in politics, because God, please can we get rid of some of these old people? Not that we're not wise, but there is this um book that I read that talked about the difference between your um your energetic intelligence, which is that intelligence that is like this sponge that you have from the time you're young to a certain age, and you just learn so fast and you can execute on what you learn so fast. And then there's crystallized intelligence, which is what we are, Kelly. You're not there yet. It is 50 and older. I know 50 and older. You are you are wise at our age, but you're not fermented. Yeah, you're not as fast as you used to be, nor do you need to be. You're more strategic at our age, and we are we should be mentoring. We should not be holding the reins. Uh okay, that's all I'm gonna say about that. Um so Riley, uh what you the Gretchen mentioned D1. Where'd you where'd you do D1? Um, I played Division I Women's Basketball for two years at Auburn University. Auburn Auburn Alabama, yeah. I was there from 2020 to 2022, and then I transferred to the University of Maryland Baltimore County from the 2022 to 2025. My cousin's daughter is doing um gymnastics there at Auburn. All right. Oh, so fun. College gymnastics is the best. Well now you can. It's so less formal than the Junior Olympic gymnastics. You can just have so much more fun with it. But like, how did you how did you like what set you up to compete at the D1 level as a young person? Well, I come from a very athletic family, fortunately. My dad uh was a swimmer at Auburn. And prior, let's see, prior to that. You can you can reach out to it. I I picked up a basketball when I was five and I just never put it in. Just loved it. I loved it. My my whole family is swimmers though. I got cousins who swim at Brown, Nebraska, Princeton, Florida. And and growing up in Maryland, you don't have a choice. You have to be on a swim team somewhere. Well, I I grew up in Atlanta. Oh, okay. Yeah, Atlanta, Georgia, and then I came up here um in 2022. So I haven't been up here super long, but I absolutely love it. I love being a transplant. That's I guess what all the people who come to the state are called. So I've enjoyed it a lot, and um yeah, I mean the people here are great. It has taken me a little bit of adjusting, southern hospitality doesn't come all the way up to Maryland sometimes, but you gotta search a little harder for that sweet tea. It is gotta search a little bit, but definitely have found a good group of people to surround myself with. Well, and so that makes it even more fascinating that you're moving into public policy. So you got your master's in public policy at UNBC. What what made you what like just fueled your interest in public policy? I would say the 2020 election was probably the biggest pusher for me to get into politics and policy. That was Wait, before you go on, tell me the first president you actually remember being president of the United States. Oh gosh. Oh like the age you were when you were like, oh, that guy's the president. I think McCain. Okay. Oh well, he he he was a candidate. He was a candidate, okay. So then Obama. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what she has as a frame of reference. So keep keep going. Okay, so 2020 election. What happened in the 2020 election that, like, you said public policy needs to be something I understand? The 2020 election, I was just kind of like taken aback by how much animosity there was. Um, you know, especially among people my age and and older, just seeing how there was so much discrepancies between people, and it just made me want to start doing my own research and stop just like relying on the news. Oh, love that. I started doing my own research. And for everybody who is out there, can you say that again? Yes, I want to start doing my own research. Your own research, okay. And stop relying on what I saw in the news or on social media on social media. Exactly. Great advice for us lay people who are just voters, but it's another thing to then go get your master's in public policy. And now you're not just pursuing a seat in this place. This place had to accept you, which I'm just gonna be the first to say out loud, and around the county, y'all can be difficult when it comes to us new people. Like we they did they you gotta earn your way into this crap. Yeah, I've I've been fortunate enough to make good relationships with uh some of the elected officials that are already in office and just some of the young people too that are either interested in policy or already involved in it. So tell me how you got the chief of staff position. So, delegate Cheryl Pasteur, she's District 11A, which is up in the Owings Mills area. She was elected in 2022, so she started in 2023. At UMBC, there's a class you could take, which basically counts for courts credit if you are accepted into the internship program. So I thought, why not? Let me try it. Um I ended up getting the internship position as her first intern when she was elected. So we had a great relationship. Um I loved how she's an educator through and through. She's not your typical politician. She doesn't even label herself as a politician. And she invested in you. Yeah, and her interest in um education reform and juvenile justice and just overall prison reform really it really got a hold of me because those are those are areas I'm passionate in, and you know, we stayed connected. And last session I was over as a fellow in the Senate, and I ended up um you know contacting her, staying in touch, and then she reached out to me after session, was like, Hey, what are you looking to do this summer? I said, Well, I'm applying to a bunch of internships because at that point I'm transitioning out of you know college basketball. I'm looking to try to get a job. She said, How do you want to be my chief of staff? And I almost started crying. Yes, exactly. I love working for her day in and day out. So now if you win your race, will you still be able to keep your job? Yes, ma'am. Okay, so you'd be able to do both. All right. So before we, I know Kelly's got tons of questions about what exactly is even a central committee, but before we get there, I think I know the answer to this already, but so there there was at least one person, maybe more. You can you talk about who made you believe that this kind of work was for you? Okay. Oh I gotta think about that because there have been so many just individuals who come along in my life, whether they were there for just a short period of time or a longer period. Um I would say one of the first people that really told me, go after what you want. Um, I'll just say her first name, Alicia. She was at Auburn University with me. She worked in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity when that was at Auburn University. And she put so much into me, and I got to have multiple conversations with her, and just she made sure that, you know, someone was supporting me throughout the whole process of me wanting to get more invested in my community and make sure I'm getting out there and being an activist. And you know, it's kind of hard to be an activist sometimes when you're a division one athlete because you have a lot of spotlight on you. So a lot of what you do reflects on your team, and sometimes teams don't want that. Schools don't want that. I mean, if they can fire you in the NBA, they can kick you out of Auburn. You gotta be careful with that. Yeah, it's kind of difficult sometimes to really express how you feel. Um so I had to kind of toe the line with that, but I think I did it in a way that was. What an excellent skill to learn, though. Right. But isn't it sad though? But isn't it like isn't it sad? Like, and obviously if you're saying something from a belief standpoint, like whether it's religion, whether it's how you grew up, where you grew up, because every everybody is different. Yeah, we clearly have way different backgrounds, you know. So um isn't it sad though that you have to toe that line? Like, I can't imagine for the most part, most people wanting to go out and say things or believe in something, and you know, and it's doing it in a mean sort of way. There are people, there are people, we see it every day, but you know what I'm saying? Like it's a shame that you can't just be like, no, this is what I believe, and there's a book coming out written by Jessica Tarloff uh called I Disagree. I think we all need to read it. Jessica Tarloff is a Democrat that sits on a Fox News show with a bunch of Republicans and talks public policy, and I really appreciate her because she can actually work in and across the aisle of her own party in a from a journalist perspective, which is also another environment that's just like completely turned upside down right now. So I think our ability to hear one another when it doesn't line up with our own beliefs is has been degraded. Yeah, and I think that art is gone. I think, but I hear the thing is is I don't believe that we're all as different as everybody is different. Absolutely not. We're not we're arguing, but I'm like, y'all aren't actually coming to the city. You're yelling around the same. That's all desire. Right. 100%. The problem needs to be fixed. Y'all yelling about it back and forth is not gonna fix anything. And you know, that's where we're lost at. I think we're we're kind of circling this bush, this burning bush. Yeah, we're gonna go into this where I think the next generation's gonna do better than we are. But one more thing before I turn it over to Kelly Kids. Let's go Gen Z. Gen Z didn't get a chance to uh or Gen X, I'm sorry, Gen X didn't get a chance to get into politics because all the other guys that are there now. That's right. That's right. They were just getting into it, so we didn't get into it. Well, now our job is to take our money and make sure that this generation has an opp opportunity. All right. But before we move into, because I know Kelly's got questions, so I gotta get off my my my high chair here. But how did you learn so early to listen to mentors? I see young people today who really just think we're all stupid, and I don't blame them because a lot of us are stupid. Oh, I thought everybody was stupid. I thought everybody was stupid when I was younger. But how how you seem to be a person who really was blessed to have a lot of mentors in your life and you actually took advantage of it. I I gotta credit my parents. Okay. Um, you know, growing up, they instilled respect and just listening within my morals. And you know, if you see somebody who needs help, help somebody. The golden rule, I grow up by the golden rule, treat us the same way you want to be treated. So I think that really helped me a lot throughout my journey. Um, I know, especially being in basketball. It's a team sport, but you you l you listen to a coach. So I basically had a coach my entire life. And most of the time, if you have a good coach, they're not just your coach on the court, they're your coach in life too. So I had a couple coaches that I had um pretty good relationships with outside of basketball, so I'd be able to talk to them about life stuff, or you know, they would help me navigate the college landscape when I was first getting into recruitment. I just want this for every kid. Yeah, I know it I really was was blessed, and my parents also they let me believe what I wanted to believe. So they um I know at some point I took my own reins, but you know, they kind of try to influence a little bit, like, hey, you probably want to invest in you know learning history or listening to the news, yada yada yada, but they let me take my own reins too. They weren't authoritative in this is how it has to be, this is what you need to believe. They let me have my own path as well. And we have very different views now, but still they allowed me that space to figure it out. Love that. So uh you guys discussed this uh central committee. Yes. Uh say more. So yeah, I mean central committee, it's a volunteer position, first and foremost, so there's no pay, no nothing with it. It's a local government position, and we're responsible for promoting the party's policies, fundraising, um, and just basically getting voter turnout. We also, though, do have a special area in which let's say somebody steps down from a delegate or senate position, or somebody on, I believe, a school board steps down. We are the people that the governor helps appoint to those positions. So let's say somebody stepped down to Anneron County as a delegate, one of the central committee people would be appointed to that position. Interesting. So you could get your first foot into an actual position coming up through the central committee. Yeah, so it holds it. She's not only hard, but she's strategic. I'm just she's having mentors, man. I'm not asking anybody to step down, but if it happens, right, at least here for it. I'm just here because that was one thing I noticed when I moved into Anorona County, is I was informed about what a central committee does, and as somebody who likes to volunteer and help their community out and just give, give, give, it seemed like a great position for me to use my leadership skills, but also to help my surrounding community. So, how does one become a central community member? So, a central committee member you have to it's just like any other election, you have to file to run. You have to, you know, build build your base, door knock, um, you know, try to build connections amongst people. So it's kind of like any other election, it's just instead of you know, a state delegate or a state senator, there's no there's no pay tie to it. How many people can be part of the same same thing? So it it depends based on district. So for the district I'm in district thirty two, it's gender most of them are gender balanced. So for ours, it's two women and two men. Um right now there's four men running and five women running for two seats each. Yeah, so the primary is what you're going for. Yes, ma'am. This is the C. Okay, so for the average age of a central committee member. Oh gosh. I would have to look that up. I know it varies because. Are you gonna drag that average down? How about you're running against You might drag that average down? I would say definitely again, it depends on um the district and the county for sure. I would say there's probably nobody under the age of 40 beside yourself in your area. The four between the five women and the four men, or vice versa. What's I think no, I think there's definitely at least three women in the race who are under 40. And then men, I think it I think maybe two or three of them as well. Yeah. Interesting. Okay, so 35, okay. All right. I mean, you're gonna see you're gonna start seeing a lot more Gen Z and younger people getting into politics because Gen X got pushed out. It's fine, it's cool, cool, cool. So if you're in Glen Burney, Odenton, Saverna, or Se I'm sorry, I mean my glasses. Uh Glenburnie, Odenton, Severn, Gambrels, Linthencombe, Fort Mead, and surrounding communities of District 32, you've got five men and four women. Other way around. Four men, five women running, and you are one of them. Yes, ma'am. Yeah. Okay, and when is elections being held? Yes, so the primary is on June 23rd, but early voting starts June 11th to the 18th. Okay, and then and then this is the primary, so that just is gonna kick out how many of you, uh how many of the nine? It'll be down to the the last four, the two men and two women, that's it. Oh, okay. The primary is it. The primary is it. So that is the last two. So the top, the top four vote getters are in. And the half two men and the top two and top two. Well, I mean, I like the fact that they they they segregate that out. That's nice because you you you I think you need obviously. That's good. That's good. Yeah. Okay. Um I like that. So what so you're part of the central member communic you're going to if if you become when you become the central committee member. Um what do you do? Like when you're there, like what's what's a Tuesday look like? Do you know? Um, from what I have uh been been told that you have you have meetings on, I believe it's uh like a bi-weekly basis. So that's from what I've seen, sometimes they're virtual, sometimes they're held in person, and you're kind of there for your community. Like if they need something on the local level, you're kind of the same. So if like let's say Governor Moore is holding up something, it's like we need volunteers to do something, then you become a volunteer for that, like having out pamphlets or something. Yeah, I definitely would step up to the plate, and especially if it's in Arona County, District 32, I would definitely be one of the first lines of Is this also where the folks who who can like help people get to the boat voting polls. Yeah, absolutely. We have more information and stuff like that for sure. Yeah. Getting people to understand how they're they're how to vote. And I think that's something that if I am elected to this position, I'm gonna try to do a really good job of is just being in the community and just having people know, like, oh, she's in local government. If I need something, I could go to her, and if she can't figure it out, she'll find somebody else to figure it out. I love that you say that because I think there are many times, especially now, that people they say, I listen to this guy, and I love that he says this. It says, he says, Action uh overcomes anxiety. And I think a lot of people feel very anxious about the political climate and and they don't know what to do. So the action is evades them. Yeah. But if they have a Riley, they can say, Riley, I feel frustrated, I feel anxiety because of XYZ. Absolutely. What action can I take? And you can help them. It's even if even this is what I what I've heard too about like the the um different organ is organized uh events that have happened around politics lately. They're like, oh, well, that doesn't matter anymore. Nobody cares about protesters, blah, blah, blah. What that actually is good for is all those people who are actually doing something to to express their discontent can heal themselves. Absolutely. But I feel like In this, because I think one of the things I've noticed about our our podcast and what we offer is that we're offering people information for how to do stuff, how to do it, how to get involved, how to who to call. Take your protests. How about you go and you get you line up a phone booth, line up a bunch of phone lines, and everybody sit there and you just go-that's what you should do. Don't stay in the city. Blow them up. That's right. That's what you do. Blow them up. Because see, Kelly needs to be on central committee. You're watching social media and being like these dumbasses, you know what I mean? They're like, and then they come back into what? Nothing? The phone's not ringing. Call them directly. Call that. That's your problem. As you can see, Kelly and I are a bit action-oriented ourselves. But not always knowing where you've got the right action to do it, but we're going to call them what they need to do. So you you you kind of are touching on our next question. So is there a version of this work that would feel like success to you at the end of the term? Which how long is the term? Um it's four years. Okay, so at the end of four years, even if nobody else outside the party would see it, what what does that success look like to you? If I'm getting consistent community feedback, that is what I want to see. You know, that means they know I'm there, they know I'm doing something, and I'm reliable because I'm running on integrity, reliability, and just hard work and dedication. Are we gonna keep that integrity? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, that's a that's a that's another way we want to go. So I'm ready for it. And you know, working in politics now, like I still uphold that. So I think that's a tricky part, because you even because again, we talk about the old people who have a little bit of like, you know, yeah, they want to mastery going on, or able to manipulate you to be able to think something that you shouldn't be thinking. 100%. Yeah, you know, so hopefully you can hold on to that because you are young, and I and I not that that makes me nervous, yeah, but hopefully, hopefully you feel like no, this is this is this is me. Yeah, there's no money involved with it, too. Well, there's a big thing. Yeah, there's no money in central committee. I don't get paid for this. Well, even it okay, just when you do get paid, keep that in check. Well, and I think that's a great segue into a a part of the discussion that we wanted to bring up, which is you know, there's we keep talking about age and maybe we shouldn't, but we're gonna, because we do. It's relevant. It's so relevant now because there is so much an old guard, and I do see that there's a wave of young people stepping stepping up, which first of all, thank you for your bravery. This is not a field. If you saw the 2020 election, you know this is not a field where you're gonna get to duck all the rotten tomatoes, right? You're gonna you know they're gonna come. You have to be resilient enough to take critical feedback, understanding who the source is, knowing that maybe this source is unreasonable, but this other source has some real feedback for me that I might want to process. Or how to sit and go and door knock it and just get a gets to get some jackass behind the door, it's like and then slams the door in your face, you know, because you're gonna get that too. Not everybody's kind and wants to talk about politics with you. And even in an unpaid position, the look, at these days, I will contend that politics is more about power than money, and money creates power. And even in an unpaid position, you could develop a notoriety in your community where you now have the ears of a constituency. And so, how do you hold on to your original instincts when a system has gravity pulling towards you? Well, we've always done things this way, Riley. What do you think you're doing coming in here and stirring the pot? I know. Well, I have been known to go against the grain at times for a lot of different things. For instance, um when I was at UMBC, I was the student athlete advisory committee president there, and I kind of helped bring it back. So that was something you know I had to really step up to the plate with. Um I had to really sit down with the athletic administration and be like, look, we need this XYZ. Like, these are student athletes asking for this. It's not just me. We're supposed to be investing in the student athletes. This is what we need. And it would happen because I'm I'm not just talking to an email, I'm not just calling a phone, I'm setting up a meeting, I'm going to them. And same thing right now, I'm the um Young Dems of Maryland Women's Caucus Chair. That I've had so many emails come in of we didn't even know this caucus existed until you came in. So it's great that I'm able to kind of bring stuff back and create a community for people who didn't necessarily feel seen in certain spaces. So explain this again. What is this committee you're part of? Um, so I'm the young Dems Young Democrats of Maryland women's caucus chair. Is this just this is all Maryland, not just Inter Rental? This is all Maryland. So this is a this is a thing. Yes, it is the highest. Do they also have a Republican version of this? They probably do have the young Republicans somewhere. But you're not young. Well, you should probably know your enemy, you know what I mean? Adversary. Adversary. Yes, you're right. But you you know what I mean. Yeah, there are a lot of turning point chapters at colleges. So that's what they're that's what they're I would say. That's the the there ends the turn point. Yeah, okay. I didn't know the right. There are there are the young Republicans, yes. Yeah. But I would say what I've seen is more turning point for the young Republicans. So you so yours is is it Maryland State run or it's um it's run all by people who are under 36. So in order to be a part of this, you have to be under 36 years old. And our president right now, he's running for a county council of Baltimore County. So I think after this stepping off or running again, I'm still trying to figure out what, but we have a really good executive board, and I think our average age is probably 23, 24 years old. Oh wow. So that's a great support network. Oh yeah, absolutely. And how many people would you say are involved? So I think we have twelve on the board. I'm trying to visualize the the website again, but so what is the website? So if people want to go look that up. Should just be um oh gosh, ydmariland.com if I remember that. You can you can send that to us and we'll make sure it gets in the show notes too. Yep. So people can check that. Yeah, I'll find it. Yeah, so it's ydmarilyn.org. Okay. Excellent. And so, Riley, what's the most surprising thing you've learned about politics? Um, how it actually works versus how you thought it works. I think something that has surprised me is how much you kind of have to rely on the connections you make in different agencies. So when I first got into this, I thought it was gonna be me and my office and my delegate kind of solving all the problems. But we don't have all the answers. So a lot of what we do, my delegate and I work very well together. We lean into our liaisons for different organizations, whether that be MDH or MDOT, and just kind of say, Hey, we need some direction. Can you help us? And the responsiveness has been very effective, and I think it does help when you have a house.maryland.org or a senate.maryland.org.gov email um helping you out. But it is I think also something surprising to me is seeing that some constituents have been reaching out, or even people that have reached out to our office who aren't our constituents have reached out on multiple occasions to different agencies and just no responses. But as soon as we reach out, then it's a response. And that's something that does frustrate me a little bit because I'm like, you should want to help anybody who's asking for help, even if it's just giving them another direction to look at. But that might just be my level thinking. Please hold. Yeah, I think that's probably been the most surprising thing is how how we lean on our liaisons, but the responsiveness of that people, the constituents and others outside get versus what we get. Yeah, success is absolutely like intertwined with communication. Uh really? Communication is gonna either make you or break you, I think. Um in almost any vertical. So not just in this one. Absolutely. So um talk a little bit about Riley when she's in her community and what she's hearing. Yeah, let's go ahead and do that. Let's go ahead and talk about like so you're outdoor knocking. Okay. Um, because I know it's different. Like, for you would probably be different than Courtney, but I would be curious what it would be for Courtney Bueniskus, who's running for Register of Wills. Yeah, yeah. You show up and then what are people asking you? Or what are you what's your what's your pitch? Pitch us. So I'll just knock on the door, like, hello, my name's Riley Donneau. I'm running for a local government position here in District 32. It's called Democratic Central Committee. If you have any questions, my information's on the back. Thank you so much for answering the door. Have a good day. Ah, what are you gonna do about the trash cans that my neighbor keeps piling up on the yard? Well, I'm so sorry to hear all of that that you're experiencing, but definitely give me your contact information and I'll see what I can do. I'll try to reach out to some liaisons who help with the transportation that works with the trash and see if I can work that out. Or I'll talk to your neighbor as well and see what we could do to work out a mutual agreement. No, she's quick on her finger. Yeah, what are the what are the topics that people are mostly like if they're gonna off the cuff engage you at the door, what what are they talking about? I think the biggest ones are definitely affordability, um, BGE, and traffic speeds. I do get a lot of traffic speeds because a lot of times I'm going in neighborhoods. Yeah, people are speeding through neighborhoods. My neighborhood is. The Amazon drivers are crazy. They are insane. No wonder why they're crazy. I live in South County, so there's a lot of ditches. I can't even there's a whole website. Yeah, there's a Facebook like shenanigans of South County or something, and it's basically cars and ditches. Shenanigans in South County. And Amazon trucks are always in ditches. Um, okay, that's interesting. Yeah. That's interesting. So is there is there any specific conversation at a door that has really stayed with you or inspired you? I would say one that constantly replays in my head. It was one of my first times going out door knocking, and I was in the lithicum area, and I knocked on probably a middle-aged man's door, and you know, I gave him my little pitch, and as I'm walking away, he said, Excuse me. And I turned around and he said, I just want to let you know like this means a lot to me to see a young person out doing this. And I said, Oh my goodness, like absolutely, sir. I'm I'm so excited to be able to do that. I hope you get that a lot. I really hope you get that a lot. I I I feel very protective over you. It's it's the mama bear in me, but I can I can see how hard it can be to deal with the incumbency, the just the entrenched nature of politics as it exists today. And my hope is that they're all a little bit tired and they're like, yes, young people. Well, I think that's a good thing. And then are like fist bumping you. I really hope that's how your your reception is you're lucky, I think, in the in the aspect of that, because I I mean, just thinking about that, I remember I used to work at this restaurant. I started as a as an as an assistant manager, and I they were putting me in training to be a general manager, which was all bullshit. But um, I could like run circles around everybody. And it's just like even I came in on my very first day at this one restaurant, and um, like I I at the end of the day we're cleaning up, and I was like, make sure you turn over the food, you know, like in the in the little cambros, you gotta turn it over, put the old stuff, uh new stuff down, old stuff on top, wash it out there. They all looked at me like, what? And I'm like, my general manager sitting right there, the the regional manager sitting right there, and the staff is like, I don't know what you mean. And I was like, uh you dump the food out, you wash it, you put the new food in, the old food on top. And they and and and then I was told, and I was literally told, um, and I didn't last very long, much longer the job. I was told that basically I was too young. I was too I was 20, I was 23, and I was too young to be a restaurant uh general manager. Yeah, that argument sometimes it happens, yeah. And I'm like, uh, no. I'm like, yes, maybe at 23 you need to tell me to tempt you take it back and notch and let's talk about this. But if I'm sitting here in front of like four grown ass men and you know their staff in this restaurant doesn't have- I think we can all agree the answer is never to say you're not ready. The answer is I'm here to mentor you. Exactly. It's important to have the answers. And if we if we get our young people, if we start rebuilding these relationships with our young people where we're not telling them what to do, but giving them agency and guidance, we're gonna crush it. Like we can do these things, right? Absolutely. There are those of us out here who want to support you this way, and we, Kelly, and I are definitely. Oh, we're definitely we we love the hard work of the youngins for sure. Oh my gosh, for sure. Look, my planners faster. Well, Riley, I am delighted to have had this conversation. I want us to keep the conversation going. Kelly and I actually have been doing follow-up uh quick uh video clips uh following our um our guests around in their daily lives, so maybe we'll door knock with you for a day. Oh, would that be super fun? Obviously, no cameras on the the lovely people at the door, but maybe a before and after shot of us, you know, doing a little bit of that work because that would be a good idea. There might be somebody. Yeah, there might be some folks who wouldn't mind. Yeah, you gotta come out of Annapolis, come up to the Glen Burnian. Glenvern out we're gonna have some very exciting news coming out of the Culinary Square that may or may not have something to do with Glen Burney over the next couple weeks. So listeners, stay listening. Um but we are big fans of the Glen Burney area. We'll just say that the Colin Square is. So we always wrap up with a lightning round, okay, uh, Riley. I'm sure this is part for the course for your generation. Yes. We've had to explain to a few of our guests what a lightning round is, but are you ready? Oh, I'm so ready. All right, you want to kick us off, Cal? Sure, sure. Let me get let me get locked in. And this is this is all about you, Dave. This is all about you, babe. We want our guests to know who Riley is before they ask anything else. Okay. Early bird or night owl. Night owl. Oh. All right. Last thing you binge watch and aren't embarrassed to admit. Peaky blinders. Okay, how do you understand what they're saying? I can't understand. Subtitles. I live on subtitles. I live on subtitles. Oh my gosh. I I tried watching that show and can't. And I want to because I'm like, it's so up my alley, you know? But it's like what you watch Snatch. Have you ever seen Snatch, the movie Snatch with Bradskit, where he's a spikey? Oh my it's a good one. Luxock, two smoking barrels. Snatched, watch it, it's great. It's great. Okay, what's always in your fridge? Oh gosh. Eggs. Eggs. Very good. Eggs are always in my fridge. The song that comes on and you immediately turn it up. Midnight Sun. Uh Say More. Uh by Zara Larson. Say more. We're gonna have to play it. You're just gonna have to play it. Midnight What? Midnight Sun. Midnight Sun by Zara. Zara Larson. Have you ever heard of uh my 90 and a 30? No. So basically it's like a song comes on, you just start speeding. Oh like this is my song. Mine was Thunder Kiss 65 by White Zombie. Can you play a few bars of Midnight Sun? No, that we cannot, no, we have to do that afterwards. Oh, okay. Not now. Copyright. My my my AI. There you go. We're good. Alright. So best meal you've ever had and where? Oh my goodness. Okay. Um, oh, it's gonna be tough. You know, I love cookout. Have y'all had cookout? Yeah, I remember that. I mean, you can eat a lot. That was the one that had the picnic tables inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of the bigger ones is right on the Virginia Tech campus, and and we have yet to be able to get in there because the line around the building always, always fast food, yes. But if I want to sit down in an actual restaurant, the Beumont in Catonsville, really good food. Oh, okay. I haven't been there yet. We'll have to ask Bethy about it. Absolutely. Okay, coffee, tea, or something embarrassing. Um, I'm I love soda. I grew up in the south, so I grew up in the city. Very thirsty. There you go. There is a Coke there. All right, so for sponsors. Riley, what's a skill you have that has nothing to do with policy or basketball? Um, I play the piano and drums. Ooh. Your son just started a band. All right. I gotta come watch. There's some jam sessions coming. I can see all sorts of crossovers here, Cal. All right. Um, okay, who who's your call them when everything is falling apart person? Um, my best friend, Liv. This is your is she's still in the South? Is she still in the So she actually lives in Maryland? Oh. I met her at Auburn. Wow. Nice. Very good. And what do you do when you need to completely reset? Um, I'll take a nice shower and a nap. Oh man. See, I see I need Oreos and a nap. No, I I the shower, I wish we'd have to use the shower. In this pollen, the nap. Say more about this not showering. Especially in the wintertime, I just it feels so just Is it because we're older we don't want to be wet now? I don't really want to get wet. I don't think if I could just walk through something and kind of like poof your kids. I know I hate I hate it. I'd love a good long shower. See, no, I and it's even like eating, I like having to eat because you have to eat. Like I would just like to eat because I want to indulge in a food and not because I have to eat. You don't live to eat, you eat to live. Yes, there. That's exactly right. Uh where were we? Oh, what's something people assume about you that's completely wrong? Oh gosh. Um maybe that I'm always goofy. Maybe that's a good idea. Did you know that that's a recognition? Yeah, because we're not, we're trying to. I'm not getting the goofy vibe. I can see it. Are you kidding me? I can't wait. Like I'm very, I'm very extroverted and out there, but it's like if I need to switch it off, it's always dialed in today. I feel like the whole like basketball can be a good thing. Like we'll have fun, but as soon as coach comes in, it's game time. So I can see that. Well, that's the that's also an amazing skill to have that transition. I'm still I still struggle with transition. Yeah, know what hat to wear, yeah, nowhere to wear it. I struggle with that one too. Um, last book you actually finished, Riley. Oh goodness. Um, okay, so I gotta remember the name. But essentially, I went to this uh prison justice conference, and one of the people on the panel was wrongfully put on death row and taken off, and he wrote uh a biography about it. And it was amazing. So I gotta figure out the name of it, but it was something like Injustice Served or Justice or something like that. Well, when you sent us the email, the the links, have find that book in Pluto. So Kelly, do you remember the prison justice conferences of your 20s, your early 20s? The prison the prison justice conferences you were attending? I'm just saying she's out of our league. That's what I'm saying. She's just out of our league. No, but I was reading a lot of murder books, but I mean, just okay. So that doesn't qualify. Yeah, excellent read. He does a great job. So it's not a long read either. All right, we'll get that book in the show notes. Uh, and uh, what's something you were still trying to figure out at your such a ripe age of 24? Probably adulting. Oh my god. I'm turning 25 this year, and I'll still thankfully be on my parents' insurance. But for the first time, like I did my own taxes, and that was good. Thank you, thank you. So just you know, adulting, going through that. I'm gonna say I'm glad you did your own taxes because I feel like I'm like, you're gonna run for a government position. You need to know what that looks like. Did my own taxes, yeah, all of it. I'd like to tell you that that you know I'm double your age. I'd like to tell you that adulting like is is a like a skill by this age. It's not. I'm still trying to figure out adulting too. You because again, it's new challenges and tribulations. I all the time. Whether it's like your tendonitis is air is falling. Oh, the student loan repayments. Yeah, I gotta start on those. Also, that that's that's gonna be the beginning. That's the thing. That is just the beginning. So, Riley, you are an absolute treat, and I am I am very looking forward to seeing our door knocking uh uh. Yeah, set that set that up. Let's let's get that software. When the weather's nice, I'm not a ready. I do Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. So all right. We will not. We can make that happen and we'll set that up with you and then at least go to a couple doors. I don't I don't know if I'll be able hopefully by then I'll be able to walk. We're gonna get your feet fixed. Oh God. You don't you don't know, but we had an intervention for Kelly earlier today. Oh gosh. I took took her back to one of our early guests that is a uh health and wellness for for middle-aged women and basically. It was supposed to be just a hi hello, and I basically turned the camera and I said, Dr. Sarah, talk talk talk to Kelly about how she's taking care of herself. Okay, so um, and also do you have a uh a thing for your for your campaign, like a yeah, all your I got social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I have an email, I got a website. Do you have a tagline? A tagline. Like, you know, Riley Donahue, the one for you. It's mine's like a new path forward. A new path forward. Okay, very nice, very nice, very nice. I like it. And we'll get all of your contact info and socials up on the show notes so that folks can reach out and especially other young folks who we we don't even I don't know if we have demographic information on our listeners, but my hope is that young people are listening too. I think we might. And uh we want to make sure that we connect other young people to people like you, because you can can't be what you can't see. And Riley, it's so great to see you in in the position doing what you're doing. Thank you so much. If people are interested, would they be able to like how are you doing this? Like, could they reach out to you on social media? Absolutely. I always check my DMs every day, my emails, I'm very responsive. I have a 24-hour hour turn your stuff policy with myself. Nice because I hate waiting in the inbox. Other young people can reach out and say, so if I wanted to do this, you could give them some pointers on how to get started. Absolutely. I hope we fled your I hope we flood your inbox with other young people who want to do a tree. It's just incredible. I hope so too. Yeah. So, ladies and gentlemen, let's give another round of applause for Riley Donahue. Thank you, thank you. Uh, we look forward to hearing from some uh potential sponsors in the future. Please. Please email Kelly Bowl. Oh, yeah, number one, as a potential sponsor, like we're super cheap right now, so get us before we're big and famous. And number two, like, we'll do all the heavy lifting. Oh, yeah. Exactly. What's the whole point of this podcast? Is to get people exposed to what's actually happening. Because I didn't know I didn't know O'Reilly Donahue until not until today. No. Look at how much smarter we are for it. Oh, I know. And and I have to say, I have like I have more than a smidge more hope than I had before our conversation with Rose. Well, it it if any bright light can shine through any of this current darkness, uh, is a we're all about bright light enough for amplifying it. That's right, so thank you very much for tuning in to Voices of Annapolis. Where every voice tells our story, and we're so happy to have Riley's voice in our community. So keep that conversation going, Neptale.