STAFFER Jim Papa

This guest was named one of Washington DC’s most influential people four years in a row, and for good reason. Learn more about Sean Kennedy – the National Restaurant Association’s EVP of Public Affairs – and his experience in government from congressional intern to Senate Chief of Staff to the White House.

Sally Susman is a world-class communicator, an author of "Breaking Through: Communicating to Open Minds, Move Hearts, and Change the World", and – of course – a former staffer. Tune in to this episode to hear lessons she learned and stories she lived during her journey from a Senate mail room to the U.S. Department of Commerce to some of the country's biggest brands -- American Express, Estée Lauder, and Pfizer.

When Kermitt Brooks left corporate law to join the New York State Office of the Attorney General, he intended to stay for only a few years. Instead, he continued to work in government for over a decade, serving in the Attorney General's Office and the New York State Insurance Department. In addition to his state service, Kermitt has applied his expertise at some of the largest insurance companies including MetLife, Equitable, and currently Guardian Life. Hear what Kermitt loved about serving as a staffer, how he manages teams, and so much more.

This episode features Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, who has seen how government functions from all angles – as an advocate, a staffer, and now as an elected official. She has worked in the labor movement, as a staffer for Gov. Pritzker, and as Chief of Staff of the Office of Management and Budget in the Biden White House. In 2022, she saw a new opportunity to support her community – and ran to represent the 13th District of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now, she is applying all she’s learned from those experiences and many more as a freshman Member of Congress.

Sandra Douglass Morgan is a trailblazer through and through. On today’s episode, she talks about the many roles she’s held – from Chair of the Nevada Gaming Control Board to President of the Las Vegas Raiders and everything in between.

This episode's guest is Josh Earnest, one of the few staffers to go the distance from early on the Obama campaign through both terms in the White House. Josh worked in politics and government from Florida to Iowa to New York City to Washington – and has applied lessons learned there to his job at White House Press Secretary and today, as EVP of Communications and Advertising for United. Learn all about his extraordinary pathway, his take on what makes a great staffer, and more.