Campaign War Stories Wesley Donehue

🎧🤠Tune in to today’s episode to listen to the political journey of Josh Robinson, the founder of 936 Media, from D.C. to Texas and beyond!

🙏🏼Josh’s Genesis: Josh shares how his work on campaigns began with a conversation on a Sunday at his hometown church, and evolved into a political career.

📌Authenticity in Action: Wesley and Josh delve into the significance of authenticity in political relationships, advocating for a composed and genuine demeanor to attract like-minded individuals.

🩺Nip and Tuck: Josh and Wesley agree on the necessity of preserving candidates' authenticity in their media and digital endeavors, intervening only to make subtle enhancements.

🏹In It For the Long Haul: Josh shares his approach to sustaining longevity in the political realm without succumbing to burnout, emphasizing the importance of balance and effective prioritization.

🧳Beyond the Beltway: Josh reflects on the advantages and drawbacks of departing from the Washington, D.C. area as a political practitioner.

🏆Uncharted Territory: Josh recounts his most memorable campaign experience, featuring unconventional alliances and groundbreaking achievements in a mayoral race in San Antonio.
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Josh Robinson is the founder of 936 Media, a full service multi media company.  Josh grew up in Texas by way of Alabama and worked on his first campaign at the age of 17.  He graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and continued working on campaigns across the country including Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential race.  Josh has held various leadership positions throughout his career including Regional Political Director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Chief of Staff in the United States House of Representatives and as the Political Director of the Republican Governors Association(RGA).  While at the RGA Josh managed a $55 million political budget and oversaw the largest Independent Expenditure Campaign defending Gov. Scott Walker in the historic 2012 recall election victory.  Since 2012 Josh has served as general consultant and media vendor on a number of successful statewide, congressional and regional campaigns.

🎧👠 Take a walk on the feminine side of politics in today’s episode with Sarah Selip, founder of 917 Strategies! 
🎨The Artist’s Touch: Wesley and Sarah explore the creative dimension of digital politics, emphasizing the diverse application of skills in this domain.
🫂Finding Your Tribe: Sarah elaborates on her experience in establishing a mentorship program and navigating the political landscape as a young woman.
💥Pop Culture Passions: Sarah discusses the fusion of conservative politics, cultural facets, and media within her boutique firm, 917 Strategies.
📊Weighing the Scales: Wesley and Sarah analyze the trend toward larger-scale firms in the political industry and consider how clients' interests align with these shifts.
🔄Ups and Downs: Sarah and Wesley break down a thought-provoking quote Sarah’s father shared with her about building relationships across every stage in a political career. 
📥The Ballot Box Matters: Sarah discusses her work with Congressman Jody Hice and the journey from investigating election integrity in 2020 to a book release on the topic in 2024.
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Sarah Selip has nearly a decade of experience in political public relations, coalition building, and strategic communications, which has given her a deep understanding of the media landscape. She has worked closely with prominent figures in the Republican movement, including on state, House, Senate, and presidential campaigns. With her extensive background in conservative politics, Sarah is well-equipped to shape public perceptions and foster positive relationships between clients and the media. Her work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Fox News, Newsweek, New York Post, and the Washington Examiner. As a former congressional communications director, Sarah spent the last four years helping members of Congress effectively communicate their legislative agenda and priorities by raising their media profiles nationwide and within their districts.

🎧🍃Tune in to today's episode to hear about Matt Nichol's career path, from serving his country to campaigns to medical cannabis!

⭐️Matt’s Northern Star: Matt shares how politics captivated his attention in a middle school history class, and took him all the way to Capitol Hill. 
🪖The Mud Run and Beyond: Matt elaborates on how he managed to serve his country, earn a college degree, and stay actively involved in politics simultaneously.
🫡The Last One: Matt reminisces about his tenure serving in the office of the Adjutant General in South Carolina and his six years of service in that role under General Bob Livingston. 
🎖️Veterans Voices: Matt reflects on the intersection of his political and military backgrounds and how he leverages his experience to advocate for meaningful veteran policies. 
🛣️On the Road to Recovery: Matt and Wesley discuss the importance of integrating Cannabis in treating medical issues ranging from Veterans mental health to chronic pain conditions, and how sentiments  in South Carolina continue to change regarding the policy initiative.
📲The Blackberry Bust: Matt shares his favorite campaign story, involving illicit substances and an energized local politician. 
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Matt Nichols, a Marine Corps veteran, has built a reputation in Republican circles as a tenacious political operative. Matt currently serves as a lobbyist with The Southern Group where he represents a variety of interest ranging from cannabis to disaster recovery.  
Matt also served as Senior Advisor to Congresswoman Nancy Mace, the Representative for South Carolina’s First District. In this role, he served as a crucial policy advisor on issues surrounding veterans, conservation, and cannabis. Most notably, he led the drafting of the States Reform Act. 
In 2019, Matt served as COO of the Cannabis Trade Federation (CTF) where he led their mission to remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act. He played a major role in developing the SAFE ACT, which allows federal banking regulators to provide banking services to legitimate marijuana or hemp-related businesses without fear of penalty. 
Prior to joining CTF, Matt served as Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Push Digital, acreative, crisis communications, issue advocacy and political campaign agency. Founded as a political digital agency, Push Digital grew quickly and spun off a digital Advocacy Division in 2013, and in 2016 added a Creative Division with the acquisition of On Point Digital. Brands responded positively to the offering, and the agency has since developed work for name brands such as SeaWorld, HSN, Sears and Kmart. As COO, Matt established and implemented a business development program, oversaw the day-to-day operations of the agency as well as its long-term strategic growth.  
Prior to joining Push Digital, Matt served as Director of Government Relations for the South Carolina Military Department. In this capacity, he oversaw the agency’s state and federal legislative agenda.  
Matt has personally worked on campaigns in 19 states. He has specialized in nationally targeted congressional races but his experience also includes gubernatorial and presidential campaigns. Matt is a graduate of the Republican National Committee’s nationally competitive Campaign Management College. He is also the former Political Director of the South Carolina Republican Party. 
Matt was born and raised in Bossier City, LA and is an alumni of Louisiana State University.  

🌵🎧Travel through Corey Vale’s political career, featuring an insider’s take on Senator John McCain, Service Academy aspirations, the junction of tech and political worlds, and much more! 
⚓️Falling In Love With Politics: Corey explains his entry into politics, which involved a letter of recommendation from Senator McCain and aspirations to gain admittance to the Naval Academy. 
❎The Great Intersection: Corey shares his early career oscillation between political campaign work and tech industry gigs, predating the current amalgamation of these two spheres.
🗺️The Digital Landscape: Wesley and Corey delve into the groundbreaking digital strategies of the 2008 presidential election, which revolutionized the political landscape.
🧊Cube Conference Chairs: Corey tells several stories from his presidential campaign days, and identifies several notable figures with whom he shared a cubicle with, including the current GOP Conference Chair and a sitting Governor. 
📲Digital Impact: Wesley and Corey discuss how the digital world has grown from simplistic to increasingly multifaceted, and how it touches every silo of modern campaigning.
🚦One Simple Word: Corey shares a remarkable campaign anecdote that underscores the profound character of the late Senator John McCain.
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For the last 25 years, Corey has been at the intersection of the digital revolution, bringing his insight and experience to leadership roles in both large corporations and small technology start-ups. His digital experience includes managing projects for some of the largest brands in the country such as Netflix, Disney, Sony, and YouTube.
Additionally, he has broad political experience at the national, state, and local level and has worked on four presidential campaigns including senior roles with Governor Tim Pawlenty, Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Senator John McCain.
In the last 15 years, Corey has led digital and political strategy for some of the most important races and initiatives in the country managing millions of dollars in digital spending.
He lives in Mesa, Arizona with his wife Ami. They have two adult children.

✊🏼🎧Knock Knock! In this episode, delve into the evolving world of political canvassing with Tommy Knepper, Founder of In Field Strategies. 

🧠Institutional Knowledge: Tommy explains how his experience in the U.S. Army allowed him to develop leadership skills that naturally translated to success in field politics.

💸The Instinctual Entrepreneur: Tommy shares insights into his personal drive for entrepreneurial projects, detailing how it propelled him to kickstart a successful strategy firm after only a brief stint in the political arena.

🚪A Canvassing Evolution: Wesley and Tommy discuss the evolving norms surrounding political volunteering, driven by companies like In Field Strategies.

🐅Tiger Teams: Tommy reviews how to find, prep, and keep the best canvassers in the game, and how to keep the troublemakers off the doorstepping path.

🏘️Mister Tommy’s Neighborhood: Tommy answers Wesley’s questions about the decorum and safeguards around the real-life possibilities when it comes to knocking on a stranger’s door.

🕵🏻‍♂️On The Tail: Tommy shares his favorite campaign war story, featuring spying and valuable lesson learned by his entire staff.

Tommy Knepper is President and Co-Founder of In Field Strategies, a nationwide grassroots firm that has employed over 40,000 people, working in 37 states over the past 7 years. Prior to starting In Field Strategies, Tommy served as the Pennsylvania State Director for the Republican National Committee in 2016 where he was instrumental in winning the state for the first time in 28 years. In 2014 Tommy was Campaign Manager for Carl DeMaio in California’s 52nd Congressional Race and served as Deputy Campaign Manager for the 2012 Mayor's Race in San Diego, California.Tommy has over 16 years of experience managing campaigns involving large-paid ground operations, worked as a District Director in the California State Assembly, the Director of Intern Recruitment in the City of San Diego District 7 office and in the Public Liaison Office for the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee.Tommy also served in the California Army National Guard as a Lieutenant for 6 years ending in 2014. A graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, Tommy received his bachelor’s degree in History and a minor in Political Science in June 2008 and currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife Anastacia Knepper and 4 children.

🎧You don't want to miss this super-fun episode featuring one of Wesley's oldest political pals, Adam Piper. Get ready to have a laugh and gain some unique insight into SC Politics! 🐓
🕺🏻🚶🏻‍♂️A Walk Down Memory Lane: Wesley and Adam reminisce about how South Carolina has changed in the past two decades and all the shenanigans they got up to during their college years.

🍻🏡 A Stake in the Race: Wesley and Adam extensively discuss the role of yard signs in South Carolina races and their collegiate activities.

🏆🤝Nothing but Relationships: Adam and Wesley determine that the key to a fruitful political career is not winning races or successful fundraising, but rather maintaining strong relationships from day one of your political career.

🔀🗳️Setting the Course: Adam unpacks how one Senate race in the early 2000s outlined South Carolina politics for years to come.

👥🌅The Facebook: Adam and Wesley talk about integrating Facebook in its early days and how it served as inspiration for a now very successful political career.

🔵🔴Bipartisanship Isn't Dead: Adam and Wesley discuss how certain issues remain open to bipartisan collaboration, such as human trafficking and overdose prevention. 
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Adam Piper is a proven public policy problem solver. For over 20-years, he has assisted leaders achieve success and significance ranging from local impact to global difference. He has counseled Presidential candidates, Governors, Attorneys General, Members of Congress, Mayors, and even the head of the World Food Program.  Throughout his career, Piper has sought the necessary challenges to make a difference. That purpose focused philosophy led Piper to found Pennant LLC, a bespoke strategy and positioning practice which helps clients align purpose, policy, and prosperity/profitability. As President of Pennant LLC, Piper has co-created the Coaches vs. Overdoses effort pairing overdose prevention with evidence based drug disposal, steered the National Child ID Program, and helped found a mental health start-up. Prior to founding Pennant, Piper led a $20 million national organization to 35% cycle-over-cycle revenue growth by drastically increasing the organization’s national footprint and member services. He also previously served as Executive Director of a state attorney general’s office where he spearheaded efforts on a state and national level including the passage of major pieces of legislation which addressed domestic violence, mental health, and human trafficking. Piper’s efforts have been recognized on various national 30 under 30 and 40 under 40 lists. 
Piper is a graduate of University of South Carolina, where he served as President of the University’s Young Alumni Council and on the University’s alumni Board of Governors. Piper and his wife, Meredith currently reside in Raleigh, N.C. with their two young daughters.