The AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) & Personal Branding with Integrity for Influence or Impact

In this episode of Her First, we’re diving into the powerhouse that is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—aka AOC. We break down how she went from bartending to becoming one of the most influential politicians of our time, all while keeping it real. From her grassroots campaign to her bold stance on issues like the Green New Deal and rejecting corporate PAC money, AOC’s personal brand is as strong as her policies. We’re talking about the power of authenticity, storytelling, and standing firm in your values—whether you’re in politics or building your own business. Because let’s be real, there’s a lot we can learn from AOC when it comes to making an impact.

Time Stamps:

01:55 AOC's Background and Rise in Politics

03:34 AOC's Political Achievements and Personal Brand

04:39 AOC's Unique Campaign Funding

08:17 AOC's Stance on Insider Trading

12:16 AOC's Independent Political Stance

14:32 Lessons for Content Creators and Business Owners

16:37 The Importance of Authenticity and Influence

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Transcript

Episode 077: The AOC
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Michelle Pualani: [00:00:00] the AOC is someone who's really powerful that represents. This is what I believe in. This is what I'm going to stand up for. These are my values. And this is how I'm going to demonstrate that from an actions perspective. You don't necessarily have to do that. You're not a political figure. But how are you representing some of those values? Similarly, in. Your content in your business, in your story. And then what are the actions that associate with that? 



Joanna Newton: Welcome back to another episode of the Her First podcast. Today, we are talking all about a very high profile female politician, AOC. We are talking about her because one, she has been all over social media lately talking about the Trump administration and everything that's been happening in politics right now.

And with changes to. Laws and legislature and all of the executive orders. She's been very vocal about what is going on and has kind [00:01:00] of been a beacon of hope for a lot of people who feel like things are a little out of control right now. we also want to highlight her as an amazing female, high achieving woman because she has a really interesting story and has really held true to her integrity and her values As she's been, in Washington, in an area where there's a lot of compromises being made. So today we're going to talk about her, her background and some of the things that we see as really honorable and ways for us as women to look at and us as business owners to look at of how we run our businesses. I am Joanna Newton, one of the co hosts of the Her First podcast. I'm the co founder of Millennial Marketer, an agency that helps creators and coaches build their own online digital products.

Michelle Pualani: And I'm the other co host, Michelle Houston, founder of To Be Honest Beverage Company and personal branding and business coach.

All right. So the AOC, I love the AOC. My husband loves the [00:02:00] AOC. He talks about her all the time. He's like big fan girl. So Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, little bit of her background. She grew up in the Bronx. Her father was a small business owner and her mother worked as a house cleaner. So when you think of people who are pivotal in the political space, a lot of times you think that they're gifted with a really privileged background.

AOC does not necessarily come from a quote unquote privileged background. She graduated from Boston university with a degree in international relations and economics, but post graduation she worked as a bartender to support her family after her father's death. So she has. That like working class awareness from parents as well as through herself.

So her rise in politics came a bit later in 2018 AOC defeated 10 term incumbent Joe Crowley in a major upset during the democratic primary. Now she's known for her authentic grassroots campaign that has really connected her with the working class voters. Now think about her background and where she came from.

This is a quote from her. I [00:03:00] wasn't born to a wealthy or powerful family, mother from Puerto Rico, dad from the Bronx.

I was born to a place where your zip code determines your destiny. In spite of everything that she's been through and how she got to politics, she has become a very vocal presence and has made some very, very standout statements in social media and has really actually leveraged social media to get her messaging and her thoughts across.

She's very relatable from like a young person's perspective. And I think that's why she's been really successful and why her Name has been established almost as a personal brand AOC. If you think about it that way. Some of her key accomplishments have been advocating for the green new deal, which is a really bold climate plan and been really vocally supportive of progressive issues like universal healthcare and workers rights.

So again, she has established this almost like personal brand in the political sphere where she is. Very smart, very tuned into what's happening, very vocal from a political perspective, but also really [00:04:00] relatable. And I think that often comes from her background and how much she shares that part of her story.

Joanna Newton: And she doesn't have the profile of most politicians. Most of the people in Washington and big political, roles, they come from an Ivy League background, they come from money, or their family were politicians. Like it's not very common where someone from a working class family who had to go be a bartender after college or during college ends up being on the political stage and having that level of influence.

She really defied the odds here and did something a little bit different. And you also see that translated in her political career. One of the things that She really does with her campaign funding is really focused on grassroots funding. She's never accepted corporate PAC money. Um, she tends to be funded by small dollar donors, like in her first campaign, it was an average Average of 16 per person per donation for that [00:05:00] campaign, which is really small.

Like she raised a lot of money, but that's through grassroots efforts. And this is really important because a lot of our politicians are. held to expectations by their corporate donors, right? So when they get elected into office and they received a lot of money from Walmart or Amazon or other big corporations, they're in a position where they then end up having people to listen to when it comes to what policies to recommend and do, you know, we're in a position. In our political climate where big corporations have a bigger say than politicians themselves sometimes and someone like Me or you who are listening to this podcast and AOC is saying, no, I'm not going to take that corporate funding because then I have a little birdie in my ear telling me what policies to vote for and not vote for.

So instead I'm going to take money from, you know, [00:06:00] people and funding from people because I want to. B for policies that help and support people. So just that way of funding her campaign is so different than how a lot of people run their campaigns. You know, she said about this, we're changing what it means to run for office.

No corporate PAC money, no dark money, just the people. And this is really, really powerful, for what it can do know, for our country to be someone who stands and says, no, I'm for the people. I'm not for corporate interests.

Michelle Pualani: Which I think, from a personal branding perspective, can be very helpful here, right? Like she's seeing Speaking to a specific type of person. She has identified her ideal client and how she's been able to build her audience. She's not speaking to everyone. She's not speaking to the rich and famous. She's not speaking to people who come from money.

She's not speaking to large corporations. She's speaking [00:07:00] to the people. She's speaking to a lot of the lower to middle working class of America. And. You can really identify that in the messaging that she has and the values that she puts forward in the personal brand and story that she's putting out into the world and how she shows up as a political figure and as this identity that people either relate to, or they don't, she did, I think it was the Met Gala she was invited to.

She attended the Met Gala and she wore this like white dress with this big, red, uh, writing of like, I think it was tax the rich. And so she comes out with really bold statements that totally and completely polarizes certain groups, but also then attracts and magnetizes others. So paying attention to how she's showing up boldly.

And although some people see it and they're like, Oh, that's not for me. There are so many people who are drawn and attracted. to that. And so it's a really important distinction to make when you're establishing your own values, your own set of messaging tools, and the way in which you're telling your [00:08:00] story or your narrative in your brand or in your business. 

Joanna Newton: so clear. She created this, value system. That I believe that she believes in, she's putting it out into the world and she's, winning elections and gaining influence for being true to herself in that way. Another big way that she kind of goes against the grain to a lot of people in politics is that She completely avoids insider trading. Now, something she talks a lot about is the amount of insider trading that happens with people in Congress. You think about the level of influence, the level of information that you have, if you were on the Congress floor, you know what legislation is going to affect stocks. And you can make a lot of money by leveraging that information to benefit your own wealth. she was on a show, the Daily Show, like a Daily Show podcast really recently. And I think there are only like two Congress people who don't. [00:09:00] Have stocks in trade stocks. Um, and she is one of them. So all of our Congress people are making a lot of money off the information that they're privy to. And she's refusing to be a part of that. And that's a big stand. Now, our elected officials don't have huge salaries. She doesn't come from money. She would have a lot to gain By doing this practice that everybody is doing, but instead she's saying like, no, I'm not going to use this privilege to grow my own wealth. And I'm sure she's able to grow some of her own wealth in other ways by like appearances. I'm sure she'll write a book if she hasn't written one yet. In the future, but she's not going to use these sort of unethical practices to grow her own wealth.

Michelle Pualani: Such a great learning lesson in terms of authenticity, credibility, and trust. I think that the political sphere is something that I'm not, I don't engage with on a consistent basis, but the people that I follow, the people that I pay attention to have a way of communicating from a more [00:10:00] authentic, consistent perspective that align with their values and their morals.

And this is a great representation of how to do that and aligning your actions with your words. I think that we've seen some progression and how we expect brands and, personal brands, and. Influencers to speak up. Now we've seen a lot of cancel culture and we've talked about a few key individuals on the podcast and how they were canceled and the way in which they've shown up either lending their content or their messaging or how they participate in something as either positive or negative related to a social experience.

BLM was a big example as well as what was happening across the seas. So just in the past year or so, we've seen issues develop in the Ukraine as well as Palestine that people have either spoken out against or not participated in.

And it's reflected negatively on influencers and brands. So we're in a place where. Despite your [00:11:00] political affiliations, there are expectations of announcing yourself. There was a lot of heat and pressure put on Taylor Swift to announce who she was voting for in our recent elections. And so keeping in mind that from a personal brand and business perspective, you might not always take the Such a hard line or distinct stance on something.

You know, the AOC is someone who's really powerful that represents. This is what I believe in. This is what I'm going to stand up for. These are my values. And this is how I'm going to demonstrate that from an actions perspective. You don't necessarily have to do that. You're not a political figure. But how are you representing some of those values? Similarly, in. Your content in your business, in your story. And then what are the actions that associate with that? If you say that you care about a certain organization, are you donating your time, your energy resources? So thinking through that and being conscious because people are paying attention.

Joanna Newton: And it's so important to, you know, when you're thinking about this from like a personal branding perspective, understanding your values, we've talked about this on the, on the podcast before, if you're creating personal brand, [00:12:00] if you're growing a business, thinking about your core values and then sticking to them to have that sort of integrity and they should align with your beliefs and your values. And that kind of can help you navigate what to stand up for, what to stay away from. And, and all of that. Another big thing that I think really differentiates AOC from a lot of politicians is she is not like a straight party line politician. lot of times there's a lot of pressure for politicians.

If you're a Democrat, you are going to have to vote for certain things, do certain things, say certain things, be part of something. Certain things, if you're a Republican, you go a different way. And there's a lot of pressure in your party to kind of toe the company line, so to say, and not necessarily have your own thoughts and opinions. And in a lot of cases, AOC just goes against the popular grain. You know, one thing that she's really stood firm on are things like climate change. And health care. Even when it's not like the Democratic Party line, she's [00:13:00] actually much more progressive than a lot of Democrats in terms of health care reform, universal health care programs and what we need to do about the environment. you know, recently she made a decision to not go to Trump's inauguration. can like that or you can hate that about it. About what she did, but she didn't want to go there and look like she was supporting him when she is not in support of this administration. And so she said, I'm not going to attend.

And I'm sure that ruffled some feathers and had because a lot of people were there and it's part of the process. and in the current administration, she's been very vocal talking about. what's been happening with immigration reform and deportation and all of the executive orders I've been going through over the past couple of weeks. And she is speaking out in a way that may not be looked positively from the rest of the party, but she is using her platform and she's using her influence to really showcase her [00:14:00] values. despite the fact that it could hurt reelections, she's really taking that, you know, for the people and I want to help the people and putting that to use and putting that out in the world, which I think is very, admirable, like I look at what she's doing and I'm super impressed with her ability to stay positive, but also vocal about what's happening in our country in a way that is headed, hopeful for the future, but also critical of, of what's happening right now. 

Michelle Pualani: I love this example because it is a really great reminder for online business owners, digital content, creators, influencers, is that there is always going to be a steady stream of what's expected of you. What is politically correct to say the type of content that you should be doing, the hooks that you're supposed to be using, this doesn't work.

This does stop doing that. Do this instead. And there are so many narratives that it's like, this is the way that you Be doing business. This is the [00:15:00] type of funnel that you should have. This is the type of content that you should be creating when really, when you look at those people who have been successful, it's not often because they followed one particular type of strategy, it's because they brought their own unique spin to what it is that they were doing and they thought critically about it.

So with the advent of AI and everything working off of systems that have worked in the past and tried and true methods, there's so much of the same out there. And we're in a decade and era and age now more than ever of those things that stand out really make the difference. If you look up some of like the top performing commercials, there are several that come to mind for me and they were always off the beaten path, unique, something that hadn't been seen before.

So if you continue to do what's either expected of you, if you're following the party lines, if you were Just taking the steps and using the strategy of things that supposedly work or that this is the way that we've always done them. So that's just how it is. And that's the way we're going to continue to do them.

You're never [00:16:00] going to help yourself stand out and you're never going to distinguish yourself as a content creator, influencer. Business owner. Yes, you may reach some levels of success, but it might not be to the level or the goals that you're working toward. It also might feel really limiting. You know, it's definitely very liberating to be able to stand up and say, like, this is what I think this is how I believe.

Doesn't matter what else is happening out there in the world. I'm gonna Stay true to my vision and I'm going to create and I'm going to be unique and I'm going to really share my voice and if you can kind of get behind that, I think you'll see so much more impact and influence and also feel a lot better about what you're creating and what you're putting out into the world.

Joanna Newton: Yeah. And whether you Hear the name AOC and think, wow, I love her. She's so admirable. She is for the people. She sticks up for all of these policies. That's amazing. Or you think, what a leftist loon, right? Like whichever one you think she has an impact, face, her voice, [00:17:00] what she says invokes an emotion from you. And as creators, I think sometimes we're so. So fearful offend someone or to turn someone away that we actually make it so nobody's attracted to us. I know I've definitely gone through this journey and in the way I talk to customers and the way I create content and have thought like I need to fit a certain model or a certain mold. And I'm so afraid of saying the wrong thing. thing in the wrong way or the wrong words that like it comes across so bland and blah and uninteresting. Underneath, I have so many convictions and I have a big personality and I'm opinionated and I'm all of these interesting things. And then when you turn on a camera or I try to write something, sometimes like my personality like disappears. I think as a creator, if you're putting yourself out in the world, you need to figure out a way to [00:18:00] know yourself so well that you can put that out in the world and attract your greatest fans. You will also probably get in that process. Attract some people who hate you or really, really dislike you because they disagree with, what you say, but create that connection point and that will give you influence.

That's what AOC did, right? She put out a book. bold and a bold opinion into the world. And then she got influence. She gets to vote on the legislation that goes into our government. Like that is huge level of influence. And she did that by having a point of view, having a story and sticking to those values and having a, what you see is what you get. What she says she is, she does with her voting. She does with her policies and the way she. Funds her campaigns and all of that. All of that goes together.

Michelle Pualani: Yeah. And looking at it from a merely numbers perspective, she has over eight and a half million followers on [00:19:00] Instagram, as well as across other platforms. just imagine a world in which the AOC is like, I'm done with politics. I'm moving away from this. I'm going to move into something different.

And she wants to launch a digital course and she hires Joanna and millennial marketer because they're the best course development program and agency ever. And she releases herself into the online space. Look at this amount of influence and community and impact that she already has and how she can leverage that into an offer.

Now I'm not saying that she's doing what she's doing in order to create sales someday. Not at all, because I think she comes from a very different place, a place that I don't know if I'd ever be able to step into from a political perspective and but for you as you're developing and creating, just imagine the sphere of impact and influence you can create and then what that looks like and leverages into in the future and what is possible when you're creating a community of people. Who are magnetized and drawn to the niche that you've developed and how it is that you are saying you are standing up for things you are [00:20:00] talking about things that matter to you and what that looks like.

And then delete the comments, get rid of the haters. There are always going to be people who disagree, sometimes simply just to disagree. So don't deal with that. Don't be afraid of that. And allow yourself to just kind of like step into that more authentic, genuine voice of what you feel like you can bring to the world. 

Joanna Newton: if you can tap into like your internal why of why you believe what you do, why what you do is so important to you, that can really help you have that point of view. I was talking to a client the other day that was really struggling with the idea of that her content was transformative, um, and that it actually changed people's lives.

If she, helps people with like a very specific thing that. on the surface level, you might not think has any sort of transformative quality. And we are kind of getting into some of that, deeper why, and there's gotta be something there. If someone's, she's 80, 80, 90, 000 followers on, YouTube. So like there has to be a deeper connection point of why people [00:21:00] are following her and what they're getting from her content. you know, when I think about. Me and what I do, an agency that helps people create digital products and programs and services on the surface level is not sort of world changing thing, right? Like on the surface level, I help people create the stuff that helps them grow their businesses. And I'm a very, if you listen to this podcast, you know, I'm a really passionate person.

I have a lot of, political opinions and viewpoints and, The reason I'm so passionate about it, and I try to bring that into my work is I believe that for people having a business of their own is amazing way that they can build wealth for themselves. we live in a society where there's the haves and the have nots.

It's really easy for someone with tens and millions of dollars to make more millions of dollars. And it's really hard for someone who comes like myself, who comes from a working class background where their parents live paycheck to paycheck. It's really hard. To [00:22:00] see success in life when you can't go to the best schools and you don't have all of the tutors and you don't have the connection or our current president had a dad who gave him a loan to start his business, right?

When you don't have those things, it's hard to even survive. Honestly, these days, like eggs are like Six fucking dollars, right? For like 12 eggs. I think it's even more in California, right? Like it is hard to survive. 

Michelle Pualani: Everything's more in California. California is just like astronomically more expensive.

Joanna Newton: Things are so expensive right now. And how do you get ahead and provide for your family and, do those things if you're just living paycheck to paycheck from like your corporate boss, living to, basically fill the pockets of your boss's shareholders. At the end of the day, but if you build an independent business of your own, that isn't VC backed, that doesn't answer to like the [00:23:00] billionaire overlords, you have something right?

And I think that. the end of the day, yeah, I'm building landing pages and courses and all of that, but like my why is like One I want to have a successful business so I can help you know me and my family But I also want other people to have that independence as well And not be in the rat race and have enough money to survive and be able to buy eggs Even if they got extremely expensive if you want to buy eggs You know, and that's important to me, and I try to put that passion in what I do, and I hope that that comes across.

And I think you can do some digging for your own business, understand your why and how you make that connection point for your customers and your potential customers.

Michelle Pualani: Why is such an important question when it comes to building the foundation of any brand, business, personal presence, whatever you're working on? From a behavior change and habits perspective, understanding the why and the motivation of what it is that you're doing will [00:24:00] help you change, will help you take action, will help you grow, develop, and reach the goals that you're working towards.

So I think it's such a great question to always come back to and know that it will evolve and change over time. So continuing to ask yourself that as you create new products, new programs, launch different channels, like show up in different ways, pivot in business. The life that we are leading, because it is dynamic and it will change and it will adjust and being able to find that is such an important part of the impact.

And then keeping in mind, like, yes, this person that we're talking about, a representative of a high achieving woman who has a certain level of influence impact over 8 million followers on Instagram is present on so many different podcasts and platforms goes on live television is. In the political sphere, actually speaking in rooms, you know, with very impactful people, but that doesn't mean that your level of influence is any less important.

So whether it's smaller or whether it is in a different way, whether you're teaching [00:25:00] someone yoga for the first time, or whether you're teaching them to snowboard, or whether you have a skill and an expertise in healing trauma. Like knowing that the impact and influence you have, even on a small scale is just as critical, just as important, and just as worthy of your time and attention in creating that brand in creating the business and in developing the products and programs that you really care about bringing to the world.

Joanna Newton: Thank you so much for tuning into this episode about AOC and really what it means to be a leader and a person of influence with a whole lot of integrity. If you want to chat about this episode and everything we talked about and add your own take and your own thoughts, we'd love to hear from you. We have a Facebook group for female business owners where we encourage each other, we help each other out.

We answer questions, but we also talk about our podcast episodes. So when you go there, you'll see a post, um, about this episode and you can go in and add your thoughts and feedback and say hi to [00:26:00] us, um, from where you are. We'd love to hear from you. thank you so much. Make sure you join our Facebook group, share this episode with a friend, follow us and tune into the next one.