“Very Random Question: This is a big ask of you, but I wanted to gauge your interest in running for the US Senate seat this year. The filing deadline is Monday. I am so sorry for making such a bold ask with this little lead time, but you would be an excellent candidate.”

One month ago, I received an email that would forever change the course of my life.

I have always been interested in running for office because I believe that citizen participation is vital for a functioning democracy. I’m grateful that I have a job that has flexibility. Last spring, I did a candidate training through Utah Women Run. There, I met Gabi Finlayson, the founder of Elevate, a campaign manager firm dedicated to electing new, diverse candidates across Utah. She sent me that email on the first Friday night of January, 2024.

During the candidate training, I told her I wanted to run for Senate because I’ve always loved big, ambitious goals. I love projecting a dream line, one that feels impossible, that you know you might not be able to achieve. In those places of stress and discomfort, it brings something out of you that you never knew you had. You develop deep bonds with yourself and others. You grow immensely as a person.

Over the summer, I met with her broader team at Elevate (Jackie Morgan and Ben Haynes) examining the potential of running for a different office. In the early fall, I I told them no, I wasn’t going to run. I was still planning to devote a large chunk of my year to my activism to help elect other candidates.

But Gabi, Jackie and Ben saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. Sometimes you pick your goals and sometimes your goals pick you. Sometimes you are called to something greater than yourself, and you say yes because you want to serve your state and country.

I want to serve Utah in the Senate because I love Utah. I love the land and the people. Our Great Salt Lake is suffering, our air is suffering, our rivers are suffering, and people are suffering. We can’t turn our backs, we can’t disengage, we can’t write off Utah. We have a duty to act, to do everything we can to leave the places we love better than we found them. I believe in Utah. I believe we can change our state leadership, that Utah and America is ready for new leaders to step up. And that’s why I said yes to that email.