EP 260: When the House is on Fire Don’t Wait to Help Put It Out - with Liz Minnella

Show notes: https://www.tamihackbarth.com/blog/episode-260

Are you waiting for someone to choose you?

Are you holding back because you think you aren’t ready?

Are you waiting until you have enough experience or go back to school?

Are you worried you’ll get it wrong?

I hear these fears all the time from women. They want to do something that makes a difference in the world and they get stuck because the little voice in their head telling stories about why now isn’t the right time, they aren’t the right person and they stay stuck in the loop of inaction.

This week on the podcast I am sharing a very special interview with someone who didn’t wait to be picked - Liz Minella.

I first was introduced to Liz when she hosted the Women Wednesdays calls during the Harris campaign. I knew she was someone I could learn from so I started following her on Instagram. Needless to say I am a fan and wanted to know more about how she got her start.

So I asked her to be a guest on the podcast and it confirmed she has a lot to teach us about how to use what we have to move our values and issues forward today. 

Liz Minnella is a mom, fundraiser and Instagram demfluencer. She gained an audience on Instagram following the Fourth of July shooting in Highland Park by posting short actionable steps for fellow activists to take to advance gun violence prevention legislation and she helped lead the grassroots push to pass the IL Assault Weapons Ban. 

During the 2024 election cycle, she hit her stride organizing and activating everyday people to use their power and influence to make change. She founded Chicago Women for Harris and co-organized and MCd White Women: Answer the call, which broke Zoom with over 200,000 viewers. 

She served as the Finance Co-chair of Women for Harris and raised tens of millions of dollars for the Harris campaign. She held weekly Women Wednesdays for Harris Zoom calls and organized door knocking trips across the battleground states. 

Her work was featured in a front page article in the New York Times and on CNN in the days following the election. She recently founded Connect Forward an organization dedicated to funding and facilitating a new media ecosystem for liberal voices. She is also host of Demfluenced, a podcast focused on the intersection of social media and politics. 

In other words, Liz didn’t wait to be picked. She doesn’t have any special training. She doesn’t have a background in the field. She has an Instagram account and a passion for gun safety. In our interview she shared with me how she got her start and her plan to change how Democrats use social media to create change.