July 2, 2024 • 24 mins
On this episode of The Capitol Coffee Connection podcast, Liz Hirsh Naftali sits down with former Congresswoman and current U.S. Senate candidate Debbie Mucarsel-Powell from Florida. Join us as we delve into Debbie's inspiring journey from her roots as an immigrant from Ecuador to her leadership roles in the United States.
Discover the strength and resilience that propelled her forward, fueled by the courage of her mother and the support of her family. Debbie shares heartfelt stories about her upbringing, the impact of losing her father to gun violence, and the importance of education in her life.
We also touch on the challenges and rewards of balancing family life with a political career, the significance of women's leadership, and the power of unity in achieving common goals.
Through candid anecdotes and insightful reflections, Debbie reveals the heart and humanity behind her public service. She also shares her love for ceviche, wine, and music by Lizzo and Taylor Swift especially the song Florida.
Don't miss this engaging conversation filled with personal experiences, wisdom, and a reminder of the joy found in life's simple moments.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:11):
Hi, welcome to the Capital Coffee Connection podcast. I'm Liz Hershnoff-Tolley,
and today I have the pleasure of speaking with former Congresswoman Debbie Mercosel-Powell,
who is from Florida, and she is also currently a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Florida.
We're going to be talking today about her heart and humanity.
Not about politics and policy, but just an opportunity to really get to know
(00:34):
this beautiful person for who she is.
She is a leader, but as a woman, mother, an activist, and woman running for the U.S. Senate.
So thank you, Debbie, for joining me.
Yeah, thank you, Liz. So happy to be able to join you today.
So we are going to start with, and I always try to start with something that
really brings out who you are.
(00:54):
And you are a former congresswoman. You're running for the U.S.
Senate, but you're an immigrant.
You came here as a teenager from Ecuador.
I just wondered if you could talk a little bit about like
what it meant because people see you now as who you are but the
journey that that got you to this place and we'll go into the
specifics but just what like what it means
(01:15):
to be where you are now from where you came from yeah you know when I think
about why I am where I am right now I owe so much to my mom she had so much
courage Liz to have you know the strength to leave her home to leave everything
behind in our home country of Ecuador because she wanted to work.
She wanted to give us opportunities for my sisters and I to be able to grow
(01:39):
opportunities that she knew she was not going to be able to give us in our home country of Ecuador.
So I was 14 when she did that. And, and she came with me, with my sisters.
I watched her try and get a job. She would work 12 hour shifts in different jobs.
She started cleaning houses like so many people do when they're just getting started here.
(02:00):
You know, You find the job that is available to you. And I helped her do that.
I remember my sisters worked at Burger King.
I started working at a minimum wage job at the age of 15 at a donut shop,
and it's always been her strength, her support,
her focus and commitment to doing what she could to give us a life that she didn't have.
(02:22):
She wanted to make sure that I had a good education.
She always said that education is the ultimate equalizer, and it's the only thing that we have.
People can take everything away from you, but they can't take your education.
And I worked really hard in high school while I was working.
I got a scholarship, actually, to attend college. I was able to attend Pitzer
(02:43):
College and get a master's degree there at the Claremont Graduate University.
And it all started with my mom and my sisters also.
I'm the youngest of four sisters. And I saw my sisters working just as hard
and always being there for me, right?
I mean, you don't get to these type of places on your own. There's always people
behind you that are always mentoring, guiding, helping, supporting.
(03:06):
And I take that very, very seriously. And it's one of the things that I did
when I was in Congress also to make sure that I provide any guidance and support
and mentorship to other women that want to run,
other women that want to get into the world of government and serving.
I've been very fortunate. I still have my mom. She lives with me now.
(03:26):
And my sisters are around me all the time. We're very close and they're supporting
me now in this run for U.S. Senate.
I love that. You talked about your mom and I know that, you know,
your father passed away when you were young and he passed away from a tragic gun violence.
Could you talk about that with us? Yeah. You know, my father,
(03:48):
I remember when my mom wanted to bring all of us here,
he didn't want, you know, at the beginning he was pushing back,
but he knew ultimately that it would create a better future for his daughters.
And he always said, you're going to go there, but you need to learn the language.
You need to make sure that you're working hard and you work for yourself and you are independent.
(04:12):
And I think a lot of my independence also comes from those talks that I would have with my dad.
And so I had had actually a phone call with my father the night before he died.
We were talking about school. I was getting my master's degree at the time,
And I actually needed help with my car. And so, you know, we always talked about cars.
He was very passionate about cars.
(04:33):
And I was in class the next morning and I got pulled out of class.
My sister had called the school.
To tell me that my father had been shot and had died from gun violence in Ecuador.
And it was traumatic. It was a shock. I remember having to go back and pack.
(04:53):
A couple of my friends came with me. We had to go back to Ecuador very, very quickly.
And it broke our family in many ways.
The trauma, you never really recuperate from that trauma, but it also united us more than ever.
And And I think that that was a moment for me that I looked at the world in a very different light.
(05:14):
I looked at what I needed to do in my mission in a different way.
And everything that I have done is centered around making sure that I do whatever
I can to avoid that call for others to go through that pain,
but also to fight for justice.
I think justice has been at the central point of my service in Congress.
(05:37):
And even as I'm working and as I've been working with Giffords,
I've been doing that work for the past three years here in the state of Florida
and across the country and just doing everything we can to save lives.
It's a very clear and simple mission. We have to do what we can to save lives.
Like you said, it's about saving lives.
And that's what I think the role of our leaders are, is to make lives better,
(05:58):
but to save lives. So thank you for sharing that.
I want to go back to school and education, which your mom talked to you about
and you understood was very important.
Do you have teachers or a specific teacher, whether in high school or college,
that still to this day stands out in your life or is a part of your life for
what they taught you or how they imparted education?
Oh, I mean, absolutely. I think
(06:19):
we all do, right? We all remember that one teacher that encouraged us.
But I'm going to flip it a little bit. There was this one teacher,
actually, that was really, really tough.
And she wasn't the most encouraging, but she actually made me learn very quickly
that I had to prove myself two or three times as much here being an immigrant,
(06:40):
having a little bit of an accent when I came here.
I mean, my accent is still there a little bit, but it's gone away a lot.
She was my English teacher, Ms. Sith.
She was very, very strict. And she pushed me to the point of maybe even me questioning
if I should have even taken this class. It was an AP English class.
And I thought maybe I shouldn't have done it. I had only been in this country for a couple of years.
(07:03):
It was a really hard class, but she She was able to instill in me the ethic
of hard work and not giving up. Right.
Can't tell you how many red marks I would have in those papers and taught me
that I could do anything if I really set my mind to it.
But I also owe so much to one of the counselors at my high school that realized my potential that.
(07:27):
Guided me to apply to colleges that I hadn't even heard of before,
because she thought I could get a scholarship because of my grades,
because of my work ethic, of all the things that I had. Right.
And I wouldn't have gotten the education that I did, by the way,
if it weren't for that one counselor in high school that said, you need to apply here.
She believed in me. And I got along with it. Your parents couldn't give you
(07:49):
that background because they hadn't gone through this whole process.
So you were, you know, a typical story of a first generation trying to to figure
things out for themselves.
Exactly. Exactly. Okay. I want to ask you funny. Also, your first job was at a donut shop.
So obviously we all have first jobs.
What did it teach you about customer service and talking to people?
(08:10):
And, you know, the most important things about that first job is that they are
tough and they're not that much fun, but you learn everything and you still,
as an adult, go back to what you learned at that time.
Well, here's something that I learned. I learned very quickly that if you work
hard here in the United States, you can make some money, save it and buy your
first car. That for me was huge.
(08:32):
I couldn't believe that I was able to save money. It was a used car.
It was a Nissan Sentra. It was very cheap.
But wow, I did that. I was able to work, get that paycheck and buy myself that car.
I had been taught very strong work ethic. I had to wake up really early in the mornings.
I mean, I would have to wake up like at five in the morning to get there by opening.
(08:54):
So I could open the store and say, I also learned how, how much Americans love donuts.
I have to say there that, that entrance, I hadn't even opened the, the donut shop yet.
And there were people outside waiting to come in, but you do everything when it's a small business.
I had to clean the floors. I had to clean the bathrooms.
I had to like help with making the donuts in the back and you know,
(09:17):
they fry the donuts, right? It's like fried.
Yeah. I didn't know that until I worked at the donut shop, but I did all of
it. And yes, I had to ring people's orders in. I love that part.
It was fun in the sense that I was so proud that I could get a job and I was
so proud that I was getting that paycheck and that I was saving it.
(09:37):
And I think that was the lesson for me in that That if you work hard,
anything is possible in this country. Yeah, I like that.
So now you have a family. You have, you know, kids that are growing up.
And what is it like first to be a proud mom and balance what you're doing,
running for office and raising children and working?
(10:02):
How do you, first off, how do you manage it? And what does it,
what does it mean for you to be a mom?
Well, it's everything. I mean, it's, it's everything I do is for my children
and for the children of Florida, the children of this country.
But I have to say, look, people ask me, why, why do you want to go back to DC?
How, how do you think you're ready to do this job again? And I said,
(10:23):
well, I have two teenagers and if I can negotiate with them and get them to
do what I need them to do, I can negotiate with anyone, right? In Washington.
Right. They keep you on your toes. They don't let you, you know,
rest on your laurels. Last week, I was talking to my team about this.
I had early morning meetings. I had a media interview.
I had a round table and then I
had to come home for like an hour and they were hungry and I had to cook.
(10:44):
So I had to cook really quickly, give them food. And then I had another event in the evening.
And that's what it's like for a mom running for the Senate. And they,
you know, they know what I'm doing is really important.
And actually I had a conversation with them before I decided,
cause I knew it was going going to take a toll on the entire family.
I wasn't going to be there as often as I was before, but they've grown up and
(11:04):
they saw me when I was in Congress.
And it was tough when I was in Congress. I had to go back and forth to DC.
They were much younger, but they realized that right now in this moment, they wanted me to do it.
It was a different decision together as a family.
I wanted to make sure that they were okay with it because even in the days that
I'm exhausted in the days that, you know, I'm not feeling a hundred percent
(11:25):
because I had a late night, I had an early morning and they're the ones that
are like, oh, mommy, you've got this.
You can do this. You know, you're always wonderful.
And, you know, them understanding and they're they're now my biggest cheerleaders.
And that fills me with pride because they understand what's at stake.
And they're my my son registered, you know, right when he could.
(11:46):
He's voting for the first time in this election.
That's brilliant. I love that, that your son can vote for you.
Oh, yes. I'm so excited. My youngest, not yet. The license is important.
Important sometimes more important for a teenager than voting
but we have to encourage them to after they get their license to
vote so i was thinking about you i was reading a
quote from madeline albright who who's no longer with us but she was our secretary
(12:09):
of state and you know being a woman in that position and she said there's plenty
of room in the world for mediocre men there's no room for mediocre women i love
being a woman our life comes in segments and it allows us to have different parts of our life.
And I think that it kind of reflects what you were just saying,
which is like, this is the time for you to do what you're doing.
(12:29):
But I also know as a woman, it's not always as easy and you're more heavily judged.
It doesn't matter what you're running for. But as a woman, you're usually more
heavily judged than a man.
Oh, absolutely. I mean, if you're strong in your words and you're firm,
all of a sudden you're seen in a different light as a man that's strong and
(12:50):
firm, you know, for a man, oh, look at him. He's strong.
He, he, he's standing up for what is right for a woman. Well,
she, she's aggressive, you know, just the verbiage that is used for women when
they're in politics is completely biased. And the same thing,
the same type of coverage that we see. Right.
And and how people tend to make comments about a woman's hair,
(13:12):
a woman's outfit or, you know, her makeup. No, this is about service.
This is about the experiences that we bring. And only a woman that's sitting
at that table will advocate for families, for children, for women's rights,
for child care, family child care.
I mean, there's so many issues that are central to women, especially here in the United States.
(13:35):
We work. We are many times the main breadwinners.
We are the decision makers in our homes. We decide.
And I think I can speak to a lot of family and households.
And I think a lot of our husbands and men would agree that, you know,
it's the woman that has that hold in the household of making sure that everything
(13:58):
is running the way that it can. And look, my husband is incredible.
I wouldn't be able to do this without his support and all the help that he's
given me with the kids because we have to pick do pickups and we have to do,
you know, meetings at school.
Maybe I'm in Washington when that's happening. And so he's been an incredible equal partner in this.
But I think it's time for all the bias and all the sexism to just stop,
(14:23):
because if anyone can multitask, it's women.
If anyone can negotiate and come to an agreement and put partisan politics aside, it's women.
There have been studies done that show that we are much more willing to reach
across the aisle to make sure that we come to an agreement so that we can move things forward.
When I was in Congress, Liz, I didn't have time for the performative politics
(14:48):
or for anything else except getting things done for my constituents.
I wasn't getting on an airplane, leaving my kids and my husband behind to go
and perform in Washington. I was there to work. I was there to serve.
I was there to make things happen. And I'm really proud that we were able to
do that. I was able to do that.
And I did a lot with Republicans across Seattle on water issues, on the environment.
(15:10):
That's what you have to do. And so women are incredible leaders and we can do anything.
Just as great. I don't want to discriminate here, but many, many times even
better than a lot of the men that I see serving.
Thank you for sharing that. I think that's important because I think young people
looking up to women leaders is also a crucial piece, which is especially young
(15:33):
women, but men, seeing women in power and understanding that that is,
we share the roles. We share the roles as leaders. We share the roles as parents.
And I think that's something that we are moving I actually think beautifully
in our country, we just have to keep going there.
I have a question as a woman, as a person, what is the best advice you've ever received?
The worst advice you ever received? The best advice I think it's don't take anything personally.
(15:58):
I mean, so many things happen every day in our lives. And when you come into
it thinking that it's specifically attacking you, it can really weigh you down
and block you from moving ahead. head.
When, when people come to you with their complaints, with their issues,
their problems, or just saying that what you're doing shouldn't be what you're
doing, you should be doing something else.
(16:18):
Many, many times, most of the times it's not about you. It's about something
that's going on with them.
And also a greater environment that we're living in right now,
where there's so much negativity, so much chaos.
And so I don't think to, I don't take things personally.
And I think that that's, what's really helped me move quickly and keep focus,
keep my eye on the ball, making sure that I'm doing everything I need to do
(16:40):
to get to where I need to be because of that call for service, right?
So politics right now is so divided. It's so chaotic. It can be so negative.
I don't take it personally. It's the environment that we're living in,
and I just have to keep moving forward. So that's my advice to everyone.
Just always don't think it's about you.
There are a lot of other things going on in a lot of people's lives.
(17:02):
Moving forward. Don't take it personally. The worst advice is no,
you can't do that. No, it's not time yet.
No, this is not the race for you. No, you know what?
That's not going to happen. No, I don't think you can do this.
Don't ever listen to anyone telling you what you cannot do. And believe me,
that happens almost every day, right?
(17:23):
People feel very entitled to tell a woman what you can or cannot do.
And it can play with your head a little bit, right?
If people are telling you something, you start thinking about it. It's the worst advice.
You have to shut that off. When I was 20 years old, it wasn't as easy.
If people are telling you something, you start listening more.
(17:45):
When you start growing, you have experiences, you get a little older,
and then you start realizing, no, just because that person told me that doesn't
make it true. No, it's really true.
If anybody stops because people say they can't do it, then we're not really
moving the agenda forward for ourselves or for what we're passionate about. So I appreciate that.
(18:06):
Okay, so now we're going to get into some rapid questions to learn a little bit more about Debbie.
Please feel free to answer with a word or sentence, however you wish.
All right. What is your favorite sound? Ocean.
Ocean waves. Yeah. Favorite color? Blue.
Favorite smell or scent? Oh, God.
Oh, that's a tough one. I mean, it's between freshly baked brownies and my daughter's
(18:34):
perfume when I give her a big hug.
Those are nice ones. And you may have already answered this,
but who's your biggest cheerleader?
Yeah, my family. If you could have one meal on a deserted island,
somebody said you get one meal, what would you choose to eat? Ceviche.
I just had some yesterday, my favorite. And if you were at the end of the day,
(18:54):
what's your favorite drink?
If you're going to have like wine, alcohol, what would you drink at the end
of the day? For sure, a glass of wine.
But if I'm on the beach, Chardonnay. If I'm at home, Pinot Noir.
Sounds good. And do you have time to exercise in addition to drinking and eating?
So I've been trying to fit it in as much as I can, but it gets really tough
(19:15):
when you start traveling a lot, which I have been.
But yes, I try to do it two to three times and I go from running to Pilates
to walking to stretching, like whatever I fit in, but those are my go-tos.
And do you listen to music while you do it? Oh yeah. I mean, music-
Oh, lately, Liz, and I was just listening to it right now.
(19:37):
It's Taylor Swift, the latest album, and Guilty of Sin.
And Florida, of course, has to be part of that repertoire.
When you have time other than cooking for your kids, what's your favorite household chore?
Organizing closets. I take everything out, fold it, put it all the way that it has to be.
And then like the medicine cabinet also and like the toiletries,
(20:00):
like just organizing. What is your superpower?
What is Debbie Mercosel-Powell's superpower? power?
I think it's bringing people together.
Even since I was in college, if there was like some friend not getting along
with another friend, I would kind of make it happen so that they started talking again.
Family, the same thing, bringing the family together all the time.
Sundays, having dinners at my house with everyone there.
(20:22):
And in Florida, there has been so much disengagement and people being so,
you know, just tired of the chaos and bringing them, bringing them together
and understanding that when we come together, we have so much power.
And so I think that it's working. It's working.
Yeah. No, I think about when you come together, you have so much beautiful energy.
(20:45):
And when you're apart or you're entrenched and not speaking with people that are different.
And one of the things about this podcast is that I've spoken with people from
both sides, both parties, but very diverse backgrounds.
And one of the things that I keep coming back to is like, everybody sort of
has similar desires and similar goals, and we just have to talk about those
and that unites us. And you understand that bringing people together.
(21:08):
And I think that that's one of the things that we all have to work on and do
better. So thank you for sharing that.
If you could go, you and your husband, no kids, you could go anywhere in the
world on a vacation, where would the two of you want to go?
Brazil. There was a beach that we went to that was incredible.
It was too short. I'm so ready to go there with him.
(21:28):
Well, that's going to be a while off because you don't have time.
Can I just go for two days? Can I just take two days? Yes, just two days.
If we could do that, that would be great.
The name of it is Trancoso for anybody watching. Trancoso in Brazil.
Incredible. The music, the people, the beach, the food.
And romantic, if I can add. That's great. Okay. Tranquilo.
(21:49):
So this is the last question. And I ask all of the people that have been on
and the answers are really special and beautiful.
It is, what is joy mean to you?
What brings you joy? And how do you share your joy?
For me, joy is having these small moments when I can actually be surrounded
(22:09):
with my husband, with my kids. You know, my kids are getting older.
They're all over the place. but having those moments just with my family where
we're just doing nothing, talking, being by the pool, that for me is complete joy.
I don't need anything else.
We, all of us are going so fast all the time. And there, like I said,
there's just so much negativity lately and so much chaos and this world is going
(22:34):
through something and we need to remember our true
purpose and why we are here and our short time here. And what are we going to do with that time?
If we find joy in those moments, it could be for some people,
it could be being with their pet.
It could be, you know, cooking. It could be traveling,
(22:56):
like I said, but we all have to find those moments to remind us why we're here
to have that moment of peace that re-energizes us to keep going because we've
gone through a lot, world.
We've gone through a lot, whether it's COVID, divided elections,
political violence, so much violence in Ukraine and Israel.
(23:19):
And that's all people hear all the time. But there's also so much good in this
world, and we're forgetting that. And I think that's what.
We need to find that joy, those moments of joy. Yeah. Well, thank you.
And that's the reason for this podcast.
This podcast is supposed to be those moments of joy and those moments of like
reflecting on from where we come.
And in your case, like your mom really understanding that she needed to bring
(23:43):
her four daughters to America, and this would be an opportunity.
And now here we are sitting here and you have been a Congresswoman,
you're running for Senate, but you're a woman who knows her power and knows
what she is trying to do for others.
And also also then passing it down to your kids, because then they and their
generation are future leaders.
So while we talk about the heart and the humanity, and we try to stay away from
(24:04):
politics and policy, one of the things is, yes, they are intertwined.
But from this podcast and from our time together, what I just want to say is thank you.
Thank you for being a public servant, and thank you for really trying to make
a difference for so many other people.
Bring joy, but also bring people together and bring connectivity.
And thank you for taking the time and I wish you the best of luck and I look
(24:28):
forward to seeing you in person real soon for a real cup of coffee.
Would love that, Liz. Thank you so much and thank you for bringing joy to all
of us with your podcast. Thank you.
Music.
Hi, it's Liz. Please join me every Tuesday for coffee to talk about heart and
humanity with our elected leaders.
(24:48):
Remember to hit subscribe to get an alert when a new episode is live and for
exclusive content. Ciao.
Music.
(00:11):
Hi, welcome to the Capital Coffee Connection podcast. I'm Liz Hershnoff-Tolley,
and today I have the pleasure of speaking with former Congresswoman Debbie Mercosel-Powell,
who is from Florida, and she is also currently a candidate for the U.S. Senate in Florida.
We're going to be talking today about her heart and humanity.
Not about politics and policy, but just an opportunity to really get to know
(00:34):
this beautiful person for who she is.
She is a leader, but as a woman, mother, an activist, and woman running for the U.S. Senate.
So thank you, Debbie, for joining me.
Yeah, thank you, Liz. So happy to be able to join you today.
So we are going to start with, and I always try to start with something that
really brings out who you are.
(00:54):
And you are a former congresswoman. You're running for the U.S.
Senate, but you're an immigrant.
You came here as a teenager from Ecuador.
I just wondered if you could talk a little bit about like
what it meant because people see you now as who you are but the
journey that that got you to this place and we'll go into the
specifics but just what like what it means
(01:15):
to be where you are now from where you came from yeah you know when I think
about why I am where I am right now I owe so much to my mom she had so much
courage Liz to have you know the strength to leave her home to leave everything
behind in our home country of Ecuador because she wanted to work.
She wanted to give us opportunities for my sisters and I to be able to grow
(01:39):
opportunities that she knew she was not going to be able to give us in our home country of Ecuador.
So I was 14 when she did that. And, and she came with me, with my sisters.
I watched her try and get a job. She would work 12 hour shifts in different jobs.
She started cleaning houses like so many people do when they're just getting started here.
(02:00):
You know, You find the job that is available to you. And I helped her do that.
I remember my sisters worked at Burger King.
I started working at a minimum wage job at the age of 15 at a donut shop,
and it's always been her strength, her support,
her focus and commitment to doing what she could to give us a life that she didn't have.
(02:22):
She wanted to make sure that I had a good education.
She always said that education is the ultimate equalizer, and it's the only thing that we have.
People can take everything away from you, but they can't take your education.
And I worked really hard in high school while I was working.
I got a scholarship, actually, to attend college. I was able to attend Pitzer
(02:43):
College and get a master's degree there at the Claremont Graduate University.
And it all started with my mom and my sisters also.
I'm the youngest of four sisters. And I saw my sisters working just as hard
and always being there for me, right?
I mean, you don't get to these type of places on your own. There's always people
behind you that are always mentoring, guiding, helping, supporting.
(03:06):
And I take that very, very seriously. And it's one of the things that I did
when I was in Congress also to make sure that I provide any guidance and support
and mentorship to other women that want to run,
other women that want to get into the world of government and serving.
I've been very fortunate. I still have my mom. She lives with me now.
(03:26):
And my sisters are around me all the time. We're very close and they're supporting
me now in this run for U.S. Senate.
I love that. You talked about your mom and I know that, you know,
your father passed away when you were young and he passed away from a tragic gun violence.
Could you talk about that with us? Yeah. You know, my father,
(03:48):
I remember when my mom wanted to bring all of us here,
he didn't want, you know, at the beginning he was pushing back,
but he knew ultimately that it would create a better future for his daughters.
And he always said, you're going to go there, but you need to learn the language.
You need to make sure that you're working hard and you work for yourself and you are independent.
(04:12):
And I think a lot of my independence also comes from those talks that I would have with my dad.
And so I had had actually a phone call with my father the night before he died.
We were talking about school. I was getting my master's degree at the time,
And I actually needed help with my car. And so, you know, we always talked about cars.
He was very passionate about cars.
(04:33):
And I was in class the next morning and I got pulled out of class.
My sister had called the school.
To tell me that my father had been shot and had died from gun violence in Ecuador.
And it was traumatic. It was a shock. I remember having to go back and pack.
(04:53):
A couple of my friends came with me. We had to go back to Ecuador very, very quickly.
And it broke our family in many ways.
The trauma, you never really recuperate from that trauma, but it also united us more than ever.
And And I think that that was a moment for me that I looked at the world in a very different light.
(05:14):
I looked at what I needed to do in my mission in a different way.
And everything that I have done is centered around making sure that I do whatever
I can to avoid that call for others to go through that pain,
but also to fight for justice.
I think justice has been at the central point of my service in Congress.
(05:37):
And even as I'm working and as I've been working with Giffords,
I've been doing that work for the past three years here in the state of Florida
and across the country and just doing everything we can to save lives.
It's a very clear and simple mission. We have to do what we can to save lives.
Like you said, it's about saving lives.
And that's what I think the role of our leaders are, is to make lives better,
(05:58):
but to save lives. So thank you for sharing that.
I want to go back to school and education, which your mom talked to you about
and you understood was very important.
Do you have teachers or a specific teacher, whether in high school or college,
that still to this day stands out in your life or is a part of your life for
what they taught you or how they imparted education?
Oh, I mean, absolutely. I think
(06:19):
we all do, right? We all remember that one teacher that encouraged us.
But I'm going to flip it a little bit. There was this one teacher,
actually, that was really, really tough.
And she wasn't the most encouraging, but she actually made me learn very quickly
that I had to prove myself two or three times as much here being an immigrant,
(06:40):
having a little bit of an accent when I came here.
I mean, my accent is still there a little bit, but it's gone away a lot.
She was my English teacher, Ms. Sith.
She was very, very strict. And she pushed me to the point of maybe even me questioning
if I should have even taken this class. It was an AP English class.
And I thought maybe I shouldn't have done it. I had only been in this country for a couple of years.
(07:03):
It was a really hard class, but she She was able to instill in me the ethic
of hard work and not giving up. Right.
Can't tell you how many red marks I would have in those papers and taught me
that I could do anything if I really set my mind to it.
But I also owe so much to one of the counselors at my high school that realized my potential that.
(07:27):
Guided me to apply to colleges that I hadn't even heard of before,
because she thought I could get a scholarship because of my grades,
because of my work ethic, of all the things that I had. Right.
And I wouldn't have gotten the education that I did, by the way,
if it weren't for that one counselor in high school that said, you need to apply here.
She believed in me. And I got along with it. Your parents couldn't give you
(07:49):
that background because they hadn't gone through this whole process.
So you were, you know, a typical story of a first generation trying to to figure
things out for themselves.
Exactly. Exactly. Okay. I want to ask you funny. Also, your first job was at a donut shop.
So obviously we all have first jobs.
What did it teach you about customer service and talking to people?
(08:10):
And, you know, the most important things about that first job is that they are
tough and they're not that much fun, but you learn everything and you still,
as an adult, go back to what you learned at that time.
Well, here's something that I learned. I learned very quickly that if you work
hard here in the United States, you can make some money, save it and buy your
first car. That for me was huge.
(08:32):
I couldn't believe that I was able to save money. It was a used car.
It was a Nissan Sentra. It was very cheap.
But wow, I did that. I was able to work, get that paycheck and buy myself that car.
I had been taught very strong work ethic. I had to wake up really early in the mornings.
I mean, I would have to wake up like at five in the morning to get there by opening.
(08:54):
So I could open the store and say, I also learned how, how much Americans love donuts.
I have to say there that, that entrance, I hadn't even opened the, the donut shop yet.
And there were people outside waiting to come in, but you do everything when it's a small business.
I had to clean the floors. I had to clean the bathrooms.
I had to like help with making the donuts in the back and you know,
(09:17):
they fry the donuts, right? It's like fried.
Yeah. I didn't know that until I worked at the donut shop, but I did all of
it. And yes, I had to ring people's orders in. I love that part.
It was fun in the sense that I was so proud that I could get a job and I was
so proud that I was getting that paycheck and that I was saving it.
(09:37):
And I think that was the lesson for me in that That if you work hard,
anything is possible in this country. Yeah, I like that.
So now you have a family. You have, you know, kids that are growing up.
And what is it like first to be a proud mom and balance what you're doing,
running for office and raising children and working?
(10:02):
How do you, first off, how do you manage it? And what does it,
what does it mean for you to be a mom?
Well, it's everything. I mean, it's, it's everything I do is for my children
and for the children of Florida, the children of this country.
But I have to say, look, people ask me, why, why do you want to go back to DC?
How, how do you think you're ready to do this job again? And I said,
(10:23):
well, I have two teenagers and if I can negotiate with them and get them to
do what I need them to do, I can negotiate with anyone, right? In Washington.
Right. They keep you on your toes. They don't let you, you know,
rest on your laurels. Last week, I was talking to my team about this.
I had early morning meetings. I had a media interview.
I had a round table and then I
had to come home for like an hour and they were hungry and I had to cook.
(10:44):
So I had to cook really quickly, give them food. And then I had another event in the evening.
And that's what it's like for a mom running for the Senate. And they,
you know, they know what I'm doing is really important.
And actually I had a conversation with them before I decided,
cause I knew it was going going to take a toll on the entire family.
I wasn't going to be there as often as I was before, but they've grown up and
(11:04):
they saw me when I was in Congress.
And it was tough when I was in Congress. I had to go back and forth to DC.
They were much younger, but they realized that right now in this moment, they wanted me to do it.
It was a different decision together as a family.
I wanted to make sure that they were okay with it because even in the days that
I'm exhausted in the days that, you know, I'm not feeling a hundred percent
(11:25):
because I had a late night, I had an early morning and they're the ones that
are like, oh, mommy, you've got this.
You can do this. You know, you're always wonderful.
And, you know, them understanding and they're they're now my biggest cheerleaders.
And that fills me with pride because they understand what's at stake.
And they're my my son registered, you know, right when he could.
(11:46):
He's voting for the first time in this election.
That's brilliant. I love that, that your son can vote for you.
Oh, yes. I'm so excited. My youngest, not yet. The license is important.
Important sometimes more important for a teenager than voting
but we have to encourage them to after they get their license to
vote so i was thinking about you i was reading a
quote from madeline albright who who's no longer with us but she was our secretary
(12:09):
of state and you know being a woman in that position and she said there's plenty
of room in the world for mediocre men there's no room for mediocre women i love
being a woman our life comes in segments and it allows us to have different parts of our life.
And I think that it kind of reflects what you were just saying,
which is like, this is the time for you to do what you're doing.
(12:29):
But I also know as a woman, it's not always as easy and you're more heavily judged.
It doesn't matter what you're running for. But as a woman, you're usually more
heavily judged than a man.
Oh, absolutely. I mean, if you're strong in your words and you're firm,
all of a sudden you're seen in a different light as a man that's strong and
(12:50):
firm, you know, for a man, oh, look at him. He's strong.
He, he, he's standing up for what is right for a woman. Well,
she, she's aggressive, you know, just the verbiage that is used for women when
they're in politics is completely biased. And the same thing,
the same type of coverage that we see. Right.
And and how people tend to make comments about a woman's hair,
(13:12):
a woman's outfit or, you know, her makeup. No, this is about service.
This is about the experiences that we bring. And only a woman that's sitting
at that table will advocate for families, for children, for women's rights,
for child care, family child care.
I mean, there's so many issues that are central to women, especially here in the United States.
(13:35):
We work. We are many times the main breadwinners.
We are the decision makers in our homes. We decide.
And I think I can speak to a lot of family and households.
And I think a lot of our husbands and men would agree that, you know,
it's the woman that has that hold in the household of making sure that everything
(13:58):
is running the way that it can. And look, my husband is incredible.
I wouldn't be able to do this without his support and all the help that he's
given me with the kids because we have to pick do pickups and we have to do,
you know, meetings at school.
Maybe I'm in Washington when that's happening. And so he's been an incredible equal partner in this.
But I think it's time for all the bias and all the sexism to just stop,
(14:23):
because if anyone can multitask, it's women.
If anyone can negotiate and come to an agreement and put partisan politics aside, it's women.
There have been studies done that show that we are much more willing to reach
across the aisle to make sure that we come to an agreement so that we can move things forward.
When I was in Congress, Liz, I didn't have time for the performative politics
(14:48):
or for anything else except getting things done for my constituents.
I wasn't getting on an airplane, leaving my kids and my husband behind to go
and perform in Washington. I was there to work. I was there to serve.
I was there to make things happen. And I'm really proud that we were able to
do that. I was able to do that.
And I did a lot with Republicans across Seattle on water issues, on the environment.
(15:10):
That's what you have to do. And so women are incredible leaders and we can do anything.
Just as great. I don't want to discriminate here, but many, many times even
better than a lot of the men that I see serving.
Thank you for sharing that. I think that's important because I think young people
looking up to women leaders is also a crucial piece, which is especially young
(15:33):
women, but men, seeing women in power and understanding that that is,
we share the roles. We share the roles as leaders. We share the roles as parents.
And I think that's something that we are moving I actually think beautifully
in our country, we just have to keep going there.
I have a question as a woman, as a person, what is the best advice you've ever received?
The worst advice you ever received? The best advice I think it's don't take anything personally.
(15:58):
I mean, so many things happen every day in our lives. And when you come into
it thinking that it's specifically attacking you, it can really weigh you down
and block you from moving ahead. head.
When, when people come to you with their complaints, with their issues,
their problems, or just saying that what you're doing shouldn't be what you're
doing, you should be doing something else.
(16:18):
Many, many times, most of the times it's not about you. It's about something
that's going on with them.
And also a greater environment that we're living in right now,
where there's so much negativity, so much chaos.
And so I don't think to, I don't take things personally.
And I think that that's, what's really helped me move quickly and keep focus,
keep my eye on the ball, making sure that I'm doing everything I need to do
(16:40):
to get to where I need to be because of that call for service, right?
So politics right now is so divided. It's so chaotic. It can be so negative.
I don't take it personally. It's the environment that we're living in,
and I just have to keep moving forward. So that's my advice to everyone.
Just always don't think it's about you.
There are a lot of other things going on in a lot of people's lives.
(17:02):
Moving forward. Don't take it personally. The worst advice is no,
you can't do that. No, it's not time yet.
No, this is not the race for you. No, you know what?
That's not going to happen. No, I don't think you can do this.
Don't ever listen to anyone telling you what you cannot do. And believe me,
that happens almost every day, right?
(17:23):
People feel very entitled to tell a woman what you can or cannot do.
And it can play with your head a little bit, right?
If people are telling you something, you start thinking about it. It's the worst advice.
You have to shut that off. When I was 20 years old, it wasn't as easy.
If people are telling you something, you start listening more.
(17:45):
When you start growing, you have experiences, you get a little older,
and then you start realizing, no, just because that person told me that doesn't
make it true. No, it's really true.
If anybody stops because people say they can't do it, then we're not really
moving the agenda forward for ourselves or for what we're passionate about. So I appreciate that.
(18:06):
Okay, so now we're going to get into some rapid questions to learn a little bit more about Debbie.
Please feel free to answer with a word or sentence, however you wish.
All right. What is your favorite sound? Ocean.
Ocean waves. Yeah. Favorite color? Blue.
Favorite smell or scent? Oh, God.
Oh, that's a tough one. I mean, it's between freshly baked brownies and my daughter's
(18:34):
perfume when I give her a big hug.
Those are nice ones. And you may have already answered this,
but who's your biggest cheerleader?
Yeah, my family. If you could have one meal on a deserted island,
somebody said you get one meal, what would you choose to eat? Ceviche.
I just had some yesterday, my favorite. And if you were at the end of the day,
(18:54):
what's your favorite drink?
If you're going to have like wine, alcohol, what would you drink at the end
of the day? For sure, a glass of wine.
But if I'm on the beach, Chardonnay. If I'm at home, Pinot Noir.
Sounds good. And do you have time to exercise in addition to drinking and eating?
So I've been trying to fit it in as much as I can, but it gets really tough
(19:15):
when you start traveling a lot, which I have been.
But yes, I try to do it two to three times and I go from running to Pilates
to walking to stretching, like whatever I fit in, but those are my go-tos.
And do you listen to music while you do it? Oh yeah. I mean, music-
Oh, lately, Liz, and I was just listening to it right now.
(19:37):
It's Taylor Swift, the latest album, and Guilty of Sin.
And Florida, of course, has to be part of that repertoire.
When you have time other than cooking for your kids, what's your favorite household chore?
Organizing closets. I take everything out, fold it, put it all the way that it has to be.
And then like the medicine cabinet also and like the toiletries,
(20:00):
like just organizing. What is your superpower?
What is Debbie Mercosel-Powell's superpower? power?
I think it's bringing people together.
Even since I was in college, if there was like some friend not getting along
with another friend, I would kind of make it happen so that they started talking again.
Family, the same thing, bringing the family together all the time.
Sundays, having dinners at my house with everyone there.
(20:22):
And in Florida, there has been so much disengagement and people being so,
you know, just tired of the chaos and bringing them, bringing them together
and understanding that when we come together, we have so much power.
And so I think that it's working. It's working.
Yeah. No, I think about when you come together, you have so much beautiful energy.
(20:45):
And when you're apart or you're entrenched and not speaking with people that are different.
And one of the things about this podcast is that I've spoken with people from
both sides, both parties, but very diverse backgrounds.
And one of the things that I keep coming back to is like, everybody sort of
has similar desires and similar goals, and we just have to talk about those
and that unites us. And you understand that bringing people together.
(21:08):
And I think that that's one of the things that we all have to work on and do
better. So thank you for sharing that.
If you could go, you and your husband, no kids, you could go anywhere in the
world on a vacation, where would the two of you want to go?
Brazil. There was a beach that we went to that was incredible.
It was too short. I'm so ready to go there with him.
(21:28):
Well, that's going to be a while off because you don't have time.
Can I just go for two days? Can I just take two days? Yes, just two days.
If we could do that, that would be great.
The name of it is Trancoso for anybody watching. Trancoso in Brazil.
Incredible. The music, the people, the beach, the food.
And romantic, if I can add. That's great. Okay. Tranquilo.
(21:49):
So this is the last question. And I ask all of the people that have been on
and the answers are really special and beautiful.
It is, what is joy mean to you?
What brings you joy? And how do you share your joy?
For me, joy is having these small moments when I can actually be surrounded
(22:09):
with my husband, with my kids. You know, my kids are getting older.
They're all over the place. but having those moments just with my family where
we're just doing nothing, talking, being by the pool, that for me is complete joy.
I don't need anything else.
We, all of us are going so fast all the time. And there, like I said,
there's just so much negativity lately and so much chaos and this world is going
(22:34):
through something and we need to remember our true
purpose and why we are here and our short time here. And what are we going to do with that time?
If we find joy in those moments, it could be for some people,
it could be being with their pet.
It could be, you know, cooking. It could be traveling,
(22:56):
like I said, but we all have to find those moments to remind us why we're here
to have that moment of peace that re-energizes us to keep going because we've
gone through a lot, world.
We've gone through a lot, whether it's COVID, divided elections,
political violence, so much violence in Ukraine and Israel.
(23:19):
And that's all people hear all the time. But there's also so much good in this
world, and we're forgetting that. And I think that's what.
We need to find that joy, those moments of joy. Yeah. Well, thank you.
And that's the reason for this podcast.
This podcast is supposed to be those moments of joy and those moments of like
reflecting on from where we come.
And in your case, like your mom really understanding that she needed to bring
(23:43):
her four daughters to America, and this would be an opportunity.
And now here we are sitting here and you have been a Congresswoman,
you're running for Senate, but you're a woman who knows her power and knows
what she is trying to do for others.
And also also then passing it down to your kids, because then they and their
generation are future leaders.
So while we talk about the heart and the humanity, and we try to stay away from
(24:04):
politics and policy, one of the things is, yes, they are intertwined.
But from this podcast and from our time together, what I just want to say is thank you.
Thank you for being a public servant, and thank you for really trying to make
a difference for so many other people.
Bring joy, but also bring people together and bring connectivity.
And thank you for taking the time and I wish you the best of luck and I look
(24:28):
forward to seeing you in person real soon for a real cup of coffee.
Would love that, Liz. Thank you so much and thank you for bringing joy to all
of us with your podcast. Thank you.
Music.
Hi, it's Liz. Please join me every Tuesday for coffee to talk about heart and
humanity with our elected leaders.
(24:48):
Remember to hit subscribe to get an alert when a new episode is live and for
exclusive content. Ciao.
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