Elizabeth Brown was elected to Columbus City Council in 2015 and holds the office of President Pro Tempore. She’s the executive director of the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network, a member of the Columbus Women’s Commission, and serves on various committees, such as for the CelebrateOne Policy. 

An accomplished writer, Liz initially pursued a career in journalism, working for WOSU Public Radio and being published by New York Magazine. Eventually, she realized that her work wasn’t satisfying her life calling and decided to follow in her father’s footsteps by turning her hobby of politics into a career. To this day, she maintains that writing is one of the most important and practical skills a person can have. 

One thing led to another and she was able to turn her work as a Campaign Manager into a seat on the Columbus City Council, where she’s now led the city through a pandemic and beyond. 

Our conversation covers her entire life story, from the stressful early years through to her city council job and beyond as we get into what the future might hold – both for the city and for Liz.

We explore her gratitude for her difficult childhood, we grapple with the idea of a politician as someone who serves popular opinion versus someone who makes independent decisions based on what they believe is right, and we examine the benefits of injecting fresh, outsider perspectives into organizations and groups where things have gone stale. 

What Brett asks:

• [00:02:30] How did you get to where you are today?
• [00:05:10] Do you believe fresh, outside perspectives can be valuable in politics?
• [00:10:30] Let’s go back to the beginning. Tell me about your childhood.
• [00:15:00] You talk about there being silver linings in the negatives of your upbringing but was that how you saw things at the time?
• [00:18:20] Did your parents maintain a good relationship after their divorce?
• [00:20:50] What were you like as a child once you started school?
• [00:23:55] Was your desire to follow in your dad’s footsteps evident in childhood?
• [00:25:18] What was your mom’s line of work?
• [00:28:00] What role have the arts had in your life?
• [00:29:50] What happened once you finished school and began thinking about your career?
• [00:35:20] What was your first job in the world of politics?
• [00:39:40] What was your path from campaign manager to being on the city council?
• [00:42:00] You spend so much time taking care of other people, how do you manage to recharge your own batteries?
• [00:46:30] Coming out of the pandemic, how are you finding your role as a leader in the city, today?
• [00:53:00] Would you say it’s accurate that you have no separation between work life and personal life?
• [00:54:55] What does the future look like for you and for Columbus?
• [01:00:10] Any final thoughts?

To learn more about intentional living, and for the complete show notes, visit: gravityproject.com

Resources:

• Liz Brown on Twitter
• Liz Brown on LinkedIn
• Liz for Us
• Liz Brown at The Columbus City Council

Gravity is a production of Crate Media.