Navigating the treacherous waters of politics and motherhood, Aneta Krpekyan joins us to share the raw and powerful account of her journey. A beacon of community activism, she's faced down the challenges of upholding family values in education while balancing the demanding role of being a mother. Her story is not just one of personal sacrifice and emotional fortitude, but also underlines the pivotal importance of extended family support systems that serve as the backbone of her political and familial endeavors.
Harassment and safety issues are the unspoken trials of the politically active, and Aneta confronts these head-on in a narrative that is as chilling as it is inspiring. She details the unsettling experiences that have tested her resolve and the community support that's been her shield. This conversation extends an intimate understanding of the intersection between personal conviction and the collective effort to bring change, offering a perspective that is both enlightening and affirming for any listener who values the spirit of activism.
As our discussion unfolds, the transformative power of motherhood reveals itself—shaping not only the lives of children but also the worldviews of women like Aneta who navigate the complexities of education systems and parental involvement. The episode culminates with an exploration of self-care for mothers, a reminder of its non-negotiable necessity, and the societal imperative to support both mothers and fathers in their parenting roles. Join us for a heartfelt tribute to the resilience and influence of mothers and the importance of nurturing the family unit.
Navigating the treacherous waters of politics and motherhood, Aneta Krpekyan joins us to share the raw and powerful account of her journey. A beacon of community activism, she's faced down the challenges of upholding family values in education while balancing the demanding role of being a mother. Her story is not just one of personal sacrifice and emotional fortitude, but also underlines the pivotal importance of extended family support systems that serve as the backbone of her political and familial endeavors.
Harassment and safety issues are the unspoken trials of the politically active, and Aneta confronts these head-on in a narrative that is as chilling as it is inspiring. She details the unsettling experiences that have tested her resolve and the community support that's been her shield. This conversation extends an intimate understanding of the intersection between personal conviction and the collective effort to bring change, offering a perspective that is both enlightening and affirming for any listener who values the spirit of activism.
As our discussion unfolds, the transformative power of motherhood reveals itself—shaping not only the lives of children but also the worldviews of women like Aneta who navigate the complexities of education systems and parental involvement. The episode culminates with an exploration of self-care for mothers, a reminder of its non-negotiable necessity, and the societal imperative to support both mothers and fathers in their parenting roles. Join us for a heartfelt tribute to the resilience and influence of mothers and the importance of nurturing the family unit.
Respect yourself and it doesn't matter what other people are saying or doing. If you know the truth in something and you want to defend it, then you defend your truth.
Speaker 2:Wait. So they refuse to show the recordings of the person who put your pictures on the gate, and that's that.
Speaker 1:I want to be able to have that liberty where I teach my children at home and at school in specific. No one should be interrupting what I'm teaching my child, my family values, my religion, my culture.
Speaker 2:One of the most important things for a woman is to be a mom and is to raise good, powerful, courageous children, and that's missing in today's society.
Speaker 1:I know teachers that have said as soon as they require or mandate me to teach certain subjects in my class to my seven-year-old second grade class, my eight-year-old third grade class, I will send in my resignation and leave.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone. Today's episode is with Aneta Kerpekian. Aneta Kerpekian is not somebody new to the community. She is an incredibly powerful, courageous woman and has been on the face of every protest and anything school-related. She's such an important person in the community and she's doing a wonderful job God's job studying up for the rights of children.
Speaker 2:In this conversation we talked a lot about politics, but I really wanted to delve into her personal life and how running for the school board of Glendale has impacted her family. She said that it's been very taxing. She said that she struggled a lot as a parent. Her safety was compromised. We talked a lot about the voting process, the votes and what's really happening in politics. Her answers were interesting, but they were also shocking. At the same time. We talked about motherhood and how important it is to take care of yourself. Just in general, she was such a joy to have around and very admiring woman. It was interesting to see her struggles and how she overcame her struggles with the support of the community, of her husband, her children, her family, and I really wanted to present this to you guys because this is a different side of Aneta. She's a very relatable, empathetic and sympathetic person and I'm glad that she was able to relay that on today's episode.
Speaker 2:Make sure you subscribe to the channel by clicking below. That's really important for this podcast because it shows a lot of your support. And enjoy this episode with Annetta Kurpekian. Annetta-chan. Thank you so much for joining me today. It is an absolute honor to have you here.
Speaker 1:Thank you. I'm honored to be here in this beautiful studio.
Speaker 2:Of course, thank you. I was actually rooting for you to come on. I was like thinking about it. I was like, should I message her? Would she come? Would she be available? I know you're a mom as well, but I'm so happy that we made this work Me too so I'm so ready to have a good conversation with you today.
Speaker 1:I'm looking forward to it. It's such a relaxing setting Really. Yeah, totally, I've been to different shows, different podcasts, live Armenian TV news, so I feel like I've been in more intimidating situations.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't, yeah, today, and I want the viewers as well to know, we're going to definitely dive into your work, your mission, politics. But I also wanted to get to know you as a human being and as a mom, because I know that this was not easy and we kind of had a conversation over the phone. I can just imagine the effect it had on your marriage, your life, your children, relatives, all of that. I don't think that people see that side of other mothers and so, anywho, we will get started. I am so curious to know how this amazing, powerful mama bear got into politics. Talk to me a little bit about this journey, like, how did you Well?
Speaker 1:it was never the goal to get into politics. I avoided it at all costs. I was more of saw myself as a representative of our community and families, especially moms like myself, who were hesitant to come out, come forward, speak in regarding issues that bothered them or concerns that they had. And I guess I became a public figure, a public voice. A lot of people would reach out to me and say when you speak, it feels like you're speaking from my heart. I can't utter those same words that you say, so a lot of times it made me feel like a lot of people are thinking it, but I'm the one saying it. So it was very overwhelming at first. I'm sure I would a simple thing go to Trader Joe's to do shopping and somebody would approach me and say I've seen you. I've heard you talk at the, at the board meetings, I've seen you on TV. The work you're doing is just. It's been so amazing, like you know, like that you're helping so many parents by taking that step and being their voice. But it comes with its challenges, it comes with its disadvantages. I should say, and to answer your question, I never imagined I would get into politics and I waited, and I waited to see if anybody was going to step up and take that initial step of, you know, running for school board in my area. And when they didn't, I just felt this immense amount of responsibility that so many families and people were relying on me and I was losing sleep over that. And I told my husband because something I've shared with people before we were getting ready to move out of that area and there's this whole conspiracy theory going around that I specifically moved to that area so I can run for that seat, which is completely untrue. I've been living there for years, just that it happened to open up in my area. Just had to happen to be living in that area when that position opened up that seat. And instead of moving to another area, I you know, I was like, you know, we've been living here for a couple of years and if the opportunity presents itself where I can run this campaign and be the voice of the people and families like myself, like my husband myself, then I'm going to take that opportunity, because I didn't see anybody else stepping in.
Speaker 1:I will say it was very physically, mentally, financially taxing, all around. It was very taxing emotionally. I never thought that I would. It was very stressful. You know I'm a very hands on mom. I'm very involved in my children's life. When my kids were born I stopped working. I had to raise my kids.
Speaker 1:That was the you know understanding. My husband and I both we wanted that for our family, where I didn't chase after a specific like career, it was more about my kids. They were everything you know. He said I'll work double overtime, anything I have to do, but no one is going to give my children the love, guidance, nutrition than their own mom and you can't put a price tag on that. So it was very difficult to go into this campaign and enter this world that I've never been inside of and be exposed to politics in a different because you can see it from the outside. When you step into it it is such a different world that you're like what did I do? What did I step into? Wow, you know, and the responsibility, the positive aspects of it and the negative aspects of it. You're consumed and overwhelmed and I realized so many people end up losing their way because that world will swallow you up?
Speaker 2:Is this when they say you know they sold their soul to the devil. So that saying is actual and factual.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there were certain steps I refused to take because I said that goes against my beliefs, that goes against what I stand for. What are those steps? They wanted me to play the game. As they mentioned it. They said play the game, pretend you're OK with this, pretend you're OK with that. You know, be neutral on this, don't be so direct about that, because you want every vote you can get and then, once you're on that board, you can just, you know, do whatever you please. You're kidding me? I swear I lost track of how many people told me you have to play the game. Your opponent is playing the game. You have to play the game and just pretend you're this or that, you're OK, you're neutral, and then, when you get on that board, just be who you want to be, but again, not on surface level, behind the scenes. Be who you want to be. And I said well, I have to look my children in the eyes one day, you know.
Speaker 2:I have to your community too, right yes?
Speaker 1:And I said I can't, I can never do that, because when you start lying to the public, when you start lying to people, you start when you look in the mirror, you have to start lying to yourself and you have to be okay with the person you're seeing in the mirror. And when people were all these people were telling me you have to do this, mind you, a lot of politicians were telling me to do that, and when I was talking to them and then I would go home and I think about all the advice because I didn't discriminate. I met with Democrat politicians and I met with Republican politicians. I met with neutral you know no party preference politicians. I wanted to get as many perspectives as I could of what I was entering into and I feel like I took a little bit of each of their, from their experiences, from their advices. But majority not the hardcore Republican politicians, but majority would tell me you have to play the game and it just like was shocking to me and I. That's one of the steps that I refuse to take, because I feel like once you cross that line where you're going to display yourself as being OK with certain things or being somebody you're not, you're internally lying to yourself as well.
Speaker 1:And now you have to keep up with this facade. You have to keep up with this image that doesn't represent you and what's worse is just your own dignity, your own self-worth, becomes questionable to yourself. And when you have, like myself, I have two little girls that look up to me and they're just my world. I have to be able to look them in the eyes and tell them you know, I did this or I did that, or I was against this and I was for that. And I have to have my children respect me, because some of these people that I've seen that lose their way, because some of these people that I've seen that lose their way.
Speaker 1:My first question is aren't you worried what your children are going to think about you when they're older and they can comprehend the decisions you've made, the impact you've played in the community, in politics, in anything that you've done? Don't you worry about that respect and how your children will view you? Because I want to be a good role model for my kids. I want them to be able to look up to mom and look up to dad, and you know we all want our like our parents wanted us to live better lives than they live. We all want our kids to live even a better life than we did, so it's just maybe I'm rambling, but that's just I think.
Speaker 2:I think it's so beautiful and it's so genuine and I think I'm seeing the mom side, yeah, and so what do you feel like this? Has this compromised the time you have with your children? Absolutely, talk to us a little bit about that.
Speaker 1:It was, when I say, emotionally taxing. That was what was the hardest part. My husband sacrificed a lot of his time as well to very supportive. No way I would be able to run a campaign without his support. So that was just like a gift all on its own and I had to, like I said, my kids were so used to me always and there were days where I didn't have the time or energy to read them a bedtime story, to you know, sit down and take a longer way of explaining homework to my older one, and I felt like so much time was robbed that I robbed myself of for agreeing to go on a campaign that I did.
Speaker 1:My children and my husband sacrificed the most because they were used to mom just, you know, being there and doing everything from A to Z. Now it was okay, you can do it. Brush your teeth by yourself. Mama doesn't have to hold your hand with everything that you do. You know, I feel like they had to kind of grow up a little faster than they should have to in these seven, eight months that I was campaigning and I was constantly talking to them like if I was like losing my patience or I'd have to check myself and say you know what this is new to them as well. Mom's never been this, you know, busy and stressed and workload this heavy in their life. You know, because I quit my job in order to be able to stay at home and simultaneously had jobs on the side or helped my husband.
Speaker 1:So my kids were not used to mom being that busy mom working on the laptop all day and all night. You know, there were days I was working 12 to 13 hours, so when my husband was taking my kids to school, they'd see me already on the laptop. I'd go pick them up, we do homework, and then I would go back on the laptop until, you know, taking breaks Okay, kids, it's dinner time, okay kids, it's bath time. And then when they go to bed, it was back on the laptop, working, you know, on the campaign. And so it was not only a new world for me, but they would see it and my older one she's eight and she would express herself saying Mama, I'm worried about you because you seem so busy and stressed out. And it was. It was very difficult for them.
Speaker 2:How do you portray stress? Every mom's different, like I get moody oh yeah, how do you portray stress?
Speaker 1:I think my loud sighs and my oh, I can't believe this, like the comments on the side or just saying, hurry up, hurry up. We were like running late, like that, you know kind of like hypertension. And the kids, they're not immune to any of this. You know they grasp this better than some adults. I feel like kids can read their room better than some adults can. They're so in tune with your emotions and your feelings that I feel like they're like little therapists themselves you know, they're our therapists.
Speaker 2:Yes, totally.
Speaker 1:My older one has, I guess you could say, checked me back into, back into order so many times and kind of reminded me that, Mama, are you OK?
Speaker 1:You seem stressed out or you seem like you're angry or you're sad or something. And I had to, like you know, get back with reality and sit down and have a conversation with her and explain the whole process with reality. And sit down and have a conversation with her and explain the whole process. The younger one doesn't understand, obviously, but the older one was just so into campaigns and elections and the voting day and who can vote for you, mama, who can't vote for you, like I'd explain the whole process to her. So it was like kind of like a learning experience for her as well, to her. So it was like kind of like a learning experience for her as well. But going back to your question in regards to stress, I think that when I would express myself in those ways, whether it's the loud sighs or the commentary on the side, they and then they mimic it. You know they start to mirror neurons.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they do. They pick up. You know learned behavior. They pick up all these things that we have to be mindful. But my question to you is did you have the support from family while you were going through all of this?
Speaker 1:I had amazing support.
Speaker 2:Thank God.
Speaker 1:Like my parents, my mother-in-law, my aunt, who would come babysit them Anytime. I texted my mother-in-law to come over. She'd be there right after work, didn't matter how long she had to stay. My parents every single weekend that I had to work on the campaign, because that's when I would a lot of times go canvassing on Saturdays, sundays, they'd help me with laundry. They'd help me with home-cooked meals, because during the week, so many times when I didn't have a chance to cook, and again my family's used to home-cooked meals. Because during the week, so many times when I didn't have a chance to cook, and again my family's used to home-cooked meals, we do takeout. Thank God Glendale has so many good places to you know deliver.
Speaker 2:Places with real meat.
Speaker 1:Yes, exactly, just throwing that out there. Exactly, so you can literally have a home-cooked meal if you order it in time. But my parents would take the kids and in every way I've received so much support. I've been so blessed, I think, because if I didn't receive that, how was I going to handle? Yes, even like the laundry piling up the dishes, piling up the mom stuff. Everything, yes.
Speaker 2:So I think that's such a beautiful statement because there's a misconception in you know, everywhere you go with moms, that you know, when you are a certain place in your life, when you have a career for yourself, a good job, whether you're running for house or whatever it is, mothers think that you can do it on your own. And anytime I have a mom here, I genuinely ask them the question of can this be possible without the support? Because that's what's put out there. A lot of influencers do say things like you know, I can make cooked meals, my house is spotless, I make time it's time management, this and that, and yes, you can do that. But there's this other relatable side that all mothers need to understand that support is important. And there's moms that don't have that, and I would never want any mom to judge themselves to that extent where they feel they're a bad mom or they're not making it to cook home cooked meals and they want their career on the side. You need family's support.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it's very unfortunate when you come across such great moms that have no choice but to handle both. They don't have that family support. Like one of my closest friend, she lost her mom at, I think, right before she got pregnant with her first child right, I think, right before she got pregnant with her first child. She has a very demanding career. She's an attorney and she has three children and I I'm just in awe of her. I'm just amazed at how she manages the cooking, the cleaning, the children and having a demanding career like that.
Speaker 1:It's just. It just boggles my mind And's so inspirational it is, and sometimes I have to tell her I'm like you have to do things for yourself as well, and I get it. She's very limited with um help, because you know, the first, I'm sorry, the first person who genuinely helps you the most is your own mom. Um, yes, and, and from my experience, my own has, you know, been there for me mostly out of everybody when it came to helping out with my kids and my household chores, everything. So when I, when I, come across women like that it's, you can't help but admire them. How are you handling all this? And you can't help wonder how are they feeling Like? Do they have the mental support that they should be having?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, and that's why I always make an effort to say are you okay, how are you feeling? You know, just you know, I think that's missing in today's world. Yeah, and just you know, check up on them and absolutely like there's moms that don't have that support and they're doing a really good job, but it doesn't mean that they're not struggling, of course you know. So it's really always important to check back. Annetta, did you ever feel like your safety is compromised Every day? Talk to me about that Every day I wondered.
Speaker 1:For example, I had to change my parking spot because I was parked in an area where there were no cameras around. We live in an apartment building. I had to change. I went to talk to the manager and I said I'd like to change my spot. Where I'm parked in the gated area where I have to buzz myself in because we had options to and I was parking whatever was closest to my house, had options to and I was parking whatever was closest to my house, and so I told her I have to change my spot. I feel like my safety is going to be compromised as soon as I go into this campaign, because I'm already being stalked and harassed when I haven't even announced that I'm running for this campaign.
Speaker 2:Who was doing that to?
Speaker 1:you Specific people that are. They consider themselves my, the opposition. I would say they see me as this dangerous person, as they like to label me. All because I've spoken out against the material that I'm against at public schools, especially for elementary school kids the sexualization and just the grooming of the specific topics that they'll bring up. And oh, grooming the word offends them, but it is. You know. I call it like I see it and they'll twist and turn the narrative because when they can't defend themselves, they'll you have to make, uh, me the bad guy. They have to label me as the bad person. Uh, so one day, when my husband was dropping off the kids, he called me and he said your poster is posted all over our daughter's school, on the gate, on the sidewalk. They printed a picture of me and they put on it that I'm a teacher harasser, I'm a parent harasser, I'm a student harasser associated with dangerous groups. Put some information saying that if you see people who are associated with these groups, call 911. They're a dangerous society.
Speaker 1:And another poster right next to mine they had put of a Nazi sign and they had put that on school property, on sidewalks, on stop signs. And what was scary was they picked the exact lane we use to drop off our kids. Our school has two carpool lanes there's one on one block and one on the other end of the block. It's one of the largest elementary schools. So that poster was placed even on the way that we come. That's not even towards the school, but the path that we take, and it made me wonder how much they're following to look to see what road I'm driving, which path I'm taking to bring my kids, or parking where I'm parking to pick them up. And then somebody had left some flag on our front door and I don't know who it was, but what flag was that? It was the. It was a heart-shaped lgbtq flag and it said love is love on it. And they had hung it on my front door and I posted it online on on social media, talking about it and the other side.
Speaker 1:Of course, they gave me all this backlash, like anita's making stuff up and you know, to downplay the fact that somebody took the initiative to come to my doorstep and hang that. First of all. Okay, what, what? What does that have to do with me and you coming to my doorstep, you know? So I do feel like my danger was compromised. I had to have a talk with the principal, I had to have a talk with the student services director and I, you know, tell them that you can label, call me whatever you want, but I want you guys to know I will never tolerate anyone doing anything to my child. So at school I need to make sure you guys are aware that certain things are happening on the outside and I will never tolerate it. If it happens on the inside, where a teacher or a staff member, anybody targets my kid, that's something that you're crossing territory, that you know. It's like the gloves are off.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry, the gloves are definitely off. So and I had to have this talk where I had to tell them that there was a specific teacher who had shown interest in my child, where she was.
Speaker 2:What teacher was that?
Speaker 1:Some teacher that she's never had, but she just had some From the school. From my daughter's school, an actual employee of her own. Yes where she had not only talked about me in the teacher break room and how I'm this dangerous person To your child. No, no, no.
Speaker 1:She had talked to other people about me, other people okay, but then a couple of people told me that she had went around like asking which one my child was to see which one my child is, just out of curiosity, to know which one belongs to her. You know what are you going to do with that information? Why do you need to know who my child is? And you know, associate yourself. You're not her teacher, you're nobody in her world, you're just a staff member at that school. So it just didn't settle well with me and I did bring that up and I told him about that and I said I just want you guys to be aware that I will not tolerate my child being isolated or called out or in any way, you know, having certain eyes on her or make her uncomfortable. And thank God she has an amazing teacher, my child has an amazing teacher.
Speaker 2:Do you have a good connection with her teacher? I do yes.
Speaker 1:She's just very good. She's very, very in tune with all the parents in the room. She's very well educator. I you know.
Speaker 1:What's what bothers me is educators like her don't get enough, I guess, acknowledgement and, you know, respect in a sense. Where I know last year because she ended up having the same teacher two years in a row um, last year they had placed five, uh, non-english speaking kids in her classroom. Uh, not to get into too much detail, but basically it was such a struggle for her as an educator to have to deal with all um, so many kids that were already behind and then English second language learners, and at the end of the year I didn't see any kind of like acknowledgement. Or you know those educators, they don't put up high on platforms and it I feel like it's the more activist teachers that end up getting. Uh, oh, my God, they're amazing, they're this. Well, what about the ones that, behind the scenes, aren't letting politics into their class, aren't causing issues and division amongst communities and families and are just there to solely educate the kids and help them become better individuals? You know, so it's very sad there's a lot of problems within that, as well.
Speaker 2:So what did you do about it then? Like, how did you create a safety place for you? Because it was. I could imagine the difficulty. It's scary, right, it absolutely is scary. So how did you create safety? I?
Speaker 1:filed a couple of police reports. I was surprised at the amount of times the cops said oh, we can't do anything about it. I was very disappointed in the leadership of the school district where three different elementary schools had been placed with those signs, and not just me. The other schools had other signs placed as well with those signs, and not just me. The other schools had other signs placed as well, in particular when they had placed the Nazi sign and I told him. I said how would your Jewish students and families feel dropping off their children? And this sign is on there? And they said well, since it's from the outside, it's not because my purpose was in my police report. I needed more evidence and I asked them to access the surveillance and principal refused and the director of student service.
Speaker 2:So they refused to show the recordings of the person who put your pictures on the gate.
Speaker 1:Because whatever happens on the outside is not in our control, it's not in our jurisdiction. But you have it, you have it, yes, I'm like. So if you see on the sidewalk there's a person who's drinking alcohol or smoking weed or something you're not going to, you know, call the cops or try to eliminate. Of course you are, you're going to try to eliminate. It's out of your jurisdiction. Why are you getting involved? You know so very, very disappointed. And they had this like smirk on their face Like what are you going to do about it? You know, and I have no respect for people like that whatsoever, because they're basically picking a side, because I guarantee you, if another type of flag was disrespected and placed on any of the school properties, even across the street from the school, they would take every initiative because at that point it's considered a hate crime. But if it happens to someone who's a conservative, somebody who's been outspoken about and very direct about what I stand for and what I don't, you know, agree with they oh, it's freedom of speech, it's this, it's that and it just like got brushed away and just, you know, like it was irrelevant and it left me to deal with it and I think the.
Speaker 1:What helped was the amount of support I received from the community where I felt like I was safe because there for every opposition and every person who was against me. I truly felt that there was 10 people that were with me and for me, all across Glendale and other neighboring cities where I felt the support and I would talk to my husband about it. I said do you think I should drop out? Do you think that we're in danger or anything? And his response was I wish someone would try. Like I wish they would try to do something to my family. Like there's no joking about that. But you know, like laughing at it now, but at that time he was. He was like you do what you have to do, do not worry about your safety because nothing's going to come your way. Like he gave me that confidence.
Speaker 1:As he should, yes, and he said nothing's going to you, know, hurt you, or. But I still couldn't help but feel the dangerous aspects because my opponent's canvassers or volunteers, I should say came and took pictures right underneath my children's window, holding up her sign, and they had located our window. We live in an apartment complex. There are many balconies, many windows. They just happen to know oh, they're just canvassing out there. They could have been anywhere, right. How did they know specifically which apartment balcony is ours and which windows are ours? And they took pictures right underneath my child's, my children's window and they put it on social media like oh, we know where you live.
Speaker 1:Basically, you know threatening you yeah, and the emails I received and the messages on Instagram and the just the non-stop harassment. It wasn't not only daily, it was hourly, it was hourly and it was hourly and I just kept my cool. I, you know, concentrated on my family, on my kids, on my campaign. I stayed in line and I tried not to let the outside voices and the outside disruptors affect me. And every day I grew a thicker skin because in the beginning it was hard, because they came at me before I even announced I'm running for a political seat.
Speaker 2:I was just going to ask when you talked about the thicker skin do you consider yourself as a courageous person?
Speaker 1:I think I am because I've dealt with a lot. I really have, and I think that, even though I didn't secure a seat, that they thought that I would go into hiding, but I have nothing to be afraid of, ashamed of nothing whatsoever, like my voice cannot be silenced.
Speaker 2:What makes a person a powerful, courageous person?
Speaker 1:person, a powerful, courageous person. In my experience, I just I think my mom was a big inspiration because, no matter what challenges we faced in life, whether it was financial hardship, whether it's family drama and issues, whether it was just anything and she just, you know, didn't let her, let it bring her down. She was a very strong, she is a very strong person and I I learned from her in that and I would like to think that in some ways I probably surpassed her in that strength, because she just gave me all her strength and and courage and she said that, no matter what, you, if you believe in something, you stay in your lane and you just have a clear face and clear reputation and you just, you know, you respect yourself and it doesn't matter what other people are saying or doing. If you know the truth in something and you want to defend it, then you defend your truth.
Speaker 2:I love that. It then you defend your truth. I love that. In today's world, I think that one of the most important things for a woman is to be a mom and is to raise good, powerful, courageous children, and that's missing in today's society. I think that now a lot of women are very invested in their careers, which is still very important, but, mothers, we have such an important role that we impact our children to be tomorrow's society, and a lot of women have forgotten how important it is.
Speaker 2:So, I'm really touched by that story of your mom and how she instilled that power in you yeah and that's such an important philosophy for all women to have. Is that instilling that courage? And I think it's critical thinking too. You're very, very powerful. I've seen the way you speak. You're very you. You eloquently deliver your message you've, have you always been a critical thinker or a?
Speaker 1:talker. You know it's funny. When I was in elementary school I was very shy and I was very hesitant.
Speaker 2:Really yes.
Speaker 1:The opposite. Yeah, and I think it's because I was struggling between because I was a year old when we came to America. I was born in Armenia and when my parents came we were still in a you know where. I didn't go to school right away, I was still at home, so we only spoke Armenian. And when I went to school, english was obviously a new language for me. And since I was struggling, I was very, very like, hesitant to exercise my voice. And then I don't know, I think trial and error, and just telling myself you can either be the shy, passive, you know person who just kind of gets intimidated, because I remember very clearly my second language teacher English second language teacher called me stupid because I couldn't under, I couldn't read a specific sentence. Oh my goodness. And until this day I remember what's her name. I don't remember her name.
Speaker 2:I remember her face, call her out, yeah, I don't remember her face, but I remember her.
Speaker 1:Oh so sorry. Sometimes, touch this. No, no, no, you're good. I don't remember her face, but I remember her. Oh so sorry. Sometimes, touch this. No, no, no, you're good. I don't remember her name, but I remember her face. They would have the English cycling language learners go and do study sessions in the library and I still remember exactly which table we were sitting on and she kept telling me to repeat this line and I was struggling with it and then she said what are you stupid? It's not that hard, just say it. She's like I'm saying the words, just repeat it after me. You know, and I feel like as I grew up I didn't even as a kid I recognized that I don't like being in that situation where somebody can just step on me like that and insult me like that. So from a young age I started deciding that either you have to stand up for yourself or you're just going to be swallowed up by the rest of the which is true.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I teach that to my kids every day. Oh so-and-so didn't play with me, so go play with another kid. There's hundreds of kids at the playground. Oh so-and-so was mean to me, don't talk to them anymore, go play. Go even play by yourself. That's okay too. You have a book with you, you have your coloring with you. You know that they don't have to feel like they constantly have to be attached to somebody in order to you know, feel like they're relatable or or, you know, like popular or whatever it is. But I think that the courage came. I was very observant of my surroundings from a young age, and from a young age I decided that I'm not going to be easily intimidated by mother-in-laws and you know aunts and people that just you know that whole, you know culture, it's that whole thing.
Speaker 1:Thank God, my mother-in-law is wonderful and she's amazing and I didn't have to deal with that. On the contrary, sometimes I'm like this poor woman has to deal with me Are you a difficult person or a woman?
Speaker 2:Are you?
Speaker 1:difficult. Do you have your difficult side? I guess you could say that I'm very uh, you know, set in my ways in, in in things that I like, like. I like a tidy house, I love to be on time. It pisses me off because my husband's a you know like, ah, we'll get seven o'clock, we'll get there at eight. Oh, my god, it drives me insane. Um, every time we have to go on a trip airport. So time wise I'm very like. You know he calls me a drill sergeant. He's like it's like living with a drill sergeant, like get out, get out, get, get a move, get a move on.
Speaker 1:In that aspect I am and I feel like maybe I was very stubborn growing up and in my teenage years and when I first met my husband I had very stubborn personality. So I will say it took quite an effort to learn how to compromise. And, you know, grow and compromising also came when my children were born, because I completely flipped to be a different person. I feel like when I was living with mommy and daddy bills are paid for, you have no issues in the world I feel like I had more of a liberal, progressive mindset and you know like, because, you know, when you're young, you seem to have like yes, you know that you take things for granted.
Speaker 2:You do, you do and I think we were just talking about that. We shared that how, when you're you know, when you're young you don't really have an idea of the world yet and what's right, what's wrong, so it's very normal for you to have this very liberal mentality. I know that I did, now that I you know I'm very conservative and I know you know what values and morals like I'm a mother of two, so I understand that conservative side, yes, but when I was 20-something I was just like everybody deserves equality. I was all about equality, equality, equality, and so it's normal to be. Do you feel like we have? We're doing a bad job being empathetic to the other side?
Speaker 1:No, because we right now we're not experiencing equality as you're saying what do you think we're experiencing? We're experiencing major discrimination for being who we are.
Speaker 2:But aren't we discriminating?
Speaker 1:Are we discriminating? I don't think so. If we are, then we need to learn not to. I've always voiced my opinion of there are even conservative Armenian families that I don't agree with the way they, you know, handle their households. Sometimes it could be too much, exactly. And then there are people where the type of businesses they get into and their children are aware of those businesses. I just want to be able to have the liberty of teaching my children what I consider right and wrong and they can grow up and decide because it's my house, my rules, right, that's how I grow up. Absolutely my house, my rules. You don't do certain things if you because it's my house, my rules right.
Speaker 1:That's how I grew up my house, my rules. You don't do certain things if you're living under my roof, if you're still under my support, and I think that's why a lot of kids might end up moving out of the house earlier, and then they either they're fine or they're not fine Depends on the child, I guess. But I want to be able to have that liberty where I teach my children, at home and at school. In specific, no one should be interrupting what I'm teaching my child, my family values, my religion, my culture, what we deem to be natural, what we deem to be normal or appropriate, whatever it is. Your teachings shouldn't interrupt with what I'm teaching my child. So I feel like when they are going against that, the discrimination is against us, telling us that we have no right to have an opinion about how our own children are raised Because they're exposed to it outside already.
Speaker 2:so might as well start them young. That's the idea.
Speaker 1:Yes, but the child will be exposed to cuss words, let's say on the playground. The child comes home and asks what does this mean? The parent responds whether they want to give a full-blown explanation, whether they want to give examples, or they tell them it's a bad word, don't say it. When you're older you'll know what it means, you know. But now imagine if a child hears a specific word and goes to a teacher and asks what does this word mean?
Speaker 1:I think the proper thing, especially for elementary school kids certain words, certain ideas should be left up to the parents to explain it. It's not concepts, that sure they can hear anything. You can be watching a regular family show and some subjects may come up that you know. You weren't prepared to talk to your kids about that, but at least it's in your control. You're being able to be the one to whether you choose to go further into detail or whether you tell your kids now's not the appropriate time. I feel like I adjust and I give my older one doses, like a dosage of what information I want to introduce her to.
Speaker 2:Which, developmentally, is appropriate for your family.
Speaker 1:Versus. You know, dump all this information on her.
Speaker 2:You know it's something so simple, yet it's so difficult to comprehend. I mean, what conservative parents like myself and yourself are saying is please, for Jesus Christ's sake, just leave it to me, Let me decide what they're exposed to, because my child might not be developmentally ready to hear that. Yes, I want to understand, and we can kind of dissect this situation. What is the difficulty of understanding that and respecting a parent's wish and decision? I wish it didn't happen. Why all of this?
Speaker 1:Honestly, I don't know why it has to be that difficult. I mean, is it? It's not. It's simple. Leave politics out the door If I can't talk about God and religion and the Bible. And a teacher doesn't open the Bible and start reading verses.
Speaker 2:No, not anymore the.
Speaker 1:God has been removed from schools, or if a teacher is a Buddhist and teach them meditation, or I mean they do that now, then again it's deep breathing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a little different, exactly.
Speaker 1:It's deep breathing. Scratch that. But you know more into the deeper things that you know. Regarding religion, you don't see teachers doing that because it's not respectful to the child that doesn't follow that religion and it's because you have such a diverse classroom you can have probably at our specific school you can probably have more than half the class be Armenian Christian kids and then you can have one kid that is probably Jewish or Muslim and obviously the teacher has to have a natural, a neutral way of how she talks to the class so she's not disrespectful for the child that doesn't have the same background as the majority of the classroom. So now we've taken that concept and the minority, the less than 1% of the group, the population that identifies a certain way or belongs to a certain group, is being basically forced that this is the norm or this is acceptable or this is what we think that kids should learn, in particular gender ideology, and it makes a lot of parents uncomfortable.
Speaker 2:But are they really trying to make this as a criteria?
Speaker 1:Some classes yes and some no. So what it is is it's not a requirement. It's accepted in California law that they can talk about gender ideology and it's completely up to the. From what grade? I think any grade.
Speaker 2:Any grade, my goodness TK.
Speaker 1:Any grade.
Speaker 2:I mean there's books on that. Yes, that I've seen.
Speaker 1:It's up to the teachers. You know however they want to, if they want to talk about it or they don't. There are teachers that say absolutely not. Not in my classroom. We have way more important subjects to talk about. We have way important work to do.
Speaker 2:So what you're saying is anytime a teacher could decide to open up a conversation about gender ideology or a certain community? Yes, being gay whatever, it is whatever and it is a law that it's, it's permitted, it's okay and you can't do anything about it right, you can't opt your children out in public schools.
Speaker 1:Uh, private schools, you know you're, clearly you're paying a lot of money, so you know the type of private school you're sending your kid. Um, so they're a little bit more, even though they have their right to they. If they're not a religious affiliated private school, they have that right to because they follow state laws and and curriculum. But public schools if a teacher decides they're going to do a reading on a book about transgenderism, let's say they can easily pick up that book open it up without any forms being signed absolutely nothing.
Speaker 1:No parental consent. Some might give a notice to the teachers and some will probably just be like this is it so then it's across california, not just but this. Like this is it so, then it's across California?
Speaker 2:not just, but this is the irony here that I. Either way, you are left with no choice but to go along with their agenda. They're teaching your kids. You're not going to know about it, and if you do so, this is the way I'm thinking. Either way, you're going to be pushed to talk to your child about that, whether they are developmentally not prepared to hear what you're going to say or not. You are obligated, which means doing something you don't want to do. You're obligated to talk to them about the whole transgender movement and expose them to that world, because it's better that it comes from you than them going to school and having them you know a teacher read them a book and then have them be in shock like what's going on. Either way, you're going to have to expose them.
Speaker 1:Right? No, I agree, because it's living in a society now where you're kind of just in that situation and I personally haven't went into details about certain gender issues because my kids are very small. Even if I tried to explain it to them, they wouldn't understand what I'm saying. But to put people in a situation where it's a take it or leave it because of state laws, again people think that there's a requirement. It is absolutely not a requirement. I want people to know that it is at the discretion of the teacher, the principal, the district you're part of, you know, because there are districts that they're like. No, we don't want to bring this controversial topic into classrooms, especially after the pandemic. So many kids have been behind academically. It's a hot topic amongst parents. If you truly want it to be an equitable setting where everyone feels welcomed, you are literally making the majority uncomfortable and causing issues. What can we do about that?
Speaker 2:Honestly, Okay, we're fighting, yeah, we're going on. You know meetings, we're marching about it, protests Right. How is that going to stop your child's teacher from presenting that education to the class?
Speaker 1:I think that's why a lot of people pull their kids out because they don't trust the system. They don't think that.
Speaker 2:What's stopping your teacher from doing that? Sorry to cut you off, but I just really want to ask that, what's?
Speaker 1:stopping. Nothing's stopping her, but I guess, since I know her personally, my specific child's teacher, beyond that it's worrisome because…. So you have no control? No, you don't, unless you pull your kid out, you know. But I have the liberty and I have the means to pull my children out. One of them is right now in private because she's small, she's starting, you know, in August. One of them is right now in private because she's small, she's starting, you know, in August. I have the necessary, or the necessities, I should say, or the setting where I can do homeschooling. I can do private, even though private is ridiculously expensive right now. So it would be very, very difficult to put two kids in private. It's very expensive.
Speaker 1:It's very expensive, it's $1,200 to $1,300.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, totally. But then the reason why I stayed around to continue my fight are because of the hundreds and thousands of families that don't have that option. They can't afford home public sorry, private schools, and they can't do homeschool. Because, especially after the 2020 war, glendale had a surplus of a lot of Armenian families that moved to, and they specifically came to Glendale to be closer to their community because it's like the next Armenia right, yes, it is. Where are you going to go to have that big of an Armenian community than Glendale? And there are a lot of families that the language barrier is a major issue, where they won't be able to homeschool their children. They want their children to learn proper English and, you know, succeed and move forward, do well in this country.
Speaker 1:So, with that being said, I couldn't eliminate myself from this fight because I'm not the type of person where and I wish I was, maybe my life would be easier where I could just say okay, I'm getting my kids, I'm done, I'm out, no longer my problem, because if my neighbor's kid is affected, my friend's kid is affected. Eventually, my kid's going to be affected, because this is our society, this is our community, and I can't just ignore. Because this is our society, this is our community and I can't just ignore. Oh, my kid's safe, that's all I care about. So when you say, what can we? So sorry, what can we do, passionate, what can we do more?
Speaker 1:You know, I came across two different moms throughout my campaign. I came across moms that, on a daily basis, were in touch with me of how can we help you, how can we help you, how can we help you, what can we do? They did phone banking, they did knocking on doors, they helped with flyers, they helped spread the word, they helped with yard signs, everything. And then I came across moms who could care less. They love to complain, but they did nothing in the matter of Indifferent, yes, very indifferent, you know in Armenia there's a word for that, it's antarberutsyon.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And it's so scary.
Speaker 1:Very, Because at the end of the day, this is for your own children. You know, and the amount of backlash and harassment and so much negativity that came with it. But the way I saw it is I'm the shield protecting my children. I'm shielding them.
Speaker 2:All children. Yes, you're doing work for every single person? Yeah, that is not or is scared.
Speaker 1:I guess you could say the punches, yeah, all the punches, all the bullets, all the negativity, you and your family did Right.
Speaker 2:Your children did, your husband did your parents absolutely. What do you need from the community? What do you need people to do?
Speaker 1:I need them to be involved in their own children's schools more. There are families that they can't because of they work a lot I, but I know many families who have not once volunteered in their child's classroom. And it's not to shame anybody, it's to say that we live in a different world. Before you could send your kids to school and, and you know, feel safer. But especially after the pandemic, the more parental presence there are, the more kids feel confident. They learn better. They see you, yes, they see you. They feel safer.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the teachers know that you're there. They know that you're mama bear. They know that you're watching the system. I think that it's not only for going and passing out donuts. For Christ's sake.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:There's a bigger picture here that they need to see you there to know that there's a parent for this child. And this child is not just left and is not going to be easily manipulated.
Speaker 1:Correct, and the reason why I continued this was also for all the great educators that I personally ended up knowing, who are with open arms, very welcoming of parents to volunteer. Yes, they are waiting for that, and I think educators like that need to feel the support of our community of parents, especially because what's to stop them from leaving? I know teachers that have said, as soon as they require or mandate me to teach certain subjects in my class to my seven-year-old second grade class, my eight-year-old third grade class, I will send in my resignation and leave, because that's already affecting who I am as a person, you know, because right now it's not mandated, it's at the teacher's discretion and a lot of teachers choose not to, and that's why I thought that you know our schools. As much as they claim that we want to take the schools down, we want to do this. I saw that there's still some potential that we can save our schools, and it's just going to get worse if parents don't get involved.
Speaker 2:And how can we save the school if it's already a law?
Speaker 1:I think the right type of educators need proper support. That's what I've gathered that they're intimidated by their own unions teachers. They don't feel protected when the union is supposed to be your first order of protection, I should say for educators and the activist teachers have had more encouragement, more support and the handful of activist teachers have done so much damage where I'm sorry, but the teachers that have stayed quiet have contributed to the downfall of the public education system because everybody's intimidated.
Speaker 2:What are they intimidated about Losing their job? That's it. What are they intimidated about Losing their job? That's it. Just losing their job, I'll lose my job.
Speaker 1:I don't know what type of money I would have to be, but then again that's like me coming from a comfortable place, probably. I don't want to judge them on that, you know part where it's, a lot of people depend on that paycheck. That's their livelihood, you know. See, this is the know, and they love their job, they do and.
Speaker 2:I think that this is important for people to also see this side of you, because you are a very empathetic woman. You do sympathize, you do empathize. And you do and I don't think that people get to see that because your position is to fight and to set things straight and to speak truth, but they're not seeing the sensitive side that you're a person and you still feel and have empathy and understand where a lot of people are coming from.
Speaker 1:Right, because I've talked to educators where they've said they'll just make an example out of us, they'll get rid of us, they'll fire us and then here I'll be with children and a household and a mortgage or a rent and no job and they won't care because I was an example to keep the rest of them in order. So I don't know, maybe I'm just a person who just still believes that we can save the school district because, even though we didn't win specific seats, we didn't occupy it with somebody. That's more on the conservative side. Involvement and then, honestly, if it's intolerable, if you're at a school that's intolerable and there are too many teachers that are activists and pushing what other choice do you have? To get your kid out, you know, or find a different arrangement. What other choice do you have? To get your kid out, you know, or find a different arrangement? But again, I guess it depends on the family and what they can do, because a lot of parents have been accused Just pull your kids out. It's easier said than done. Yeah, pulling your kid out.
Speaker 2:Talk to us a little bit about the votes. So you were running and didn't get elected.
Speaker 1:Yes, so talk to us a little bit about that. So my area is the lower end of Glendale, where Americana is. All these apartment buildings. There's a lot of old apartment buildings, a lot of new apartment buildings. It's a very mixed, I would say, demographic, because you have the either just, you know, single family homes, you have duplexes, you have condos and then you have the huge apartment buildings that house hundreds of people. So it was very, very different, like very different experience when canvassing, versus other areas in Glendale where there are barely any apartments, it's more single family homes or like ADUs and things like that, where it's residential more versus mine was a very mixed. It's either commercial or residential. Like you can go on one street it's all commercial. The following street will be all residential and one street was just all apartments, which was such a headache to deal with.
Speaker 1:So in order to get votes, you have to talk to as many people as you can. You know you send out mailers to let people know more about you, and one thing I wanted to mention is so many people advised me to you have a beautiful family, make sure you put them on your mailers, and I didn't feel safe doing that. I didn't want to expose my kids. I didn't want their pictures floating around in thousands of households. It just didn't feel safe. I didn't want to use them and I said if people are going to vote for me, they're going to vote for what I stand for, what I represent, regardless of what my family looks like. So I won't use my kids to you know, my cute little kids and put them in and gain votes like that in that way. So a lot of the challenges were the apartment buildings. You'd be surprised how many people were very supportive. You'd be surprised at how many people just like slammed a door in your face.
Speaker 1:My most weirdest comment was when I talked to some lady and she said oh, I only care about animals, I only care about animals. And I said I'm sorry, I don't understand. I'm you know, I'm talking about the school system. And she's like well, kids have parents that can care for them. Animals don't have anybody to care for them. It was just like the most bizarre conversation. So in regards to like votes, you have to be open minded that you're going to come across very, very different people. You know all walks of life.
Speaker 1:I've seen houses that I never thought existed because on the map. I'm like where is this address? And I'll literally like Google map it and it'll take me behind some alley, behind some shed and I'm like, oh my God, there's a house over here. I never imagined that. So, um, and the votes, you know, seven days leading so, on election night, I was on a like a high lead. Seven days leading. So, on election night, I was on a like a high lead. And then, you know, little by little, the gap would be like closing, but it was still really good. So seven days in the lead, and then they did a surprise voter count on a Saturday, unscheduled, and then just this bunch of votes got dumped in my opponent's name. So I don't know if it was like later harvested ballots that came in, yeah, and so she literally like surpassed me. So it's like a strong lead. And then you know a little bit difference, and then all of a sudden just surpasses me in votes From how many votes?
Speaker 1:Well, I was ahead by 465 votes.
Speaker 2:Ahead 465?
Speaker 1:Ahead 465 votes. And then that gap just kept closing, closing, and then it was just like this dump in her name and it was like surpassed me 250 votes, 300 votes. You know, just like every day when they were doing that update. You know, just like every day when they were doing that update, and because of the way that Los Angeles County handles their electoral process has discouraged a lot of people from voting anyway, you know, and so getting out the vote was like pulling teeth. Did you vote? Did you vote? No, not yet Listen, you have to vote. What's the point? They're just cheat. I'm like no, if there are large margins, it's harder for them to. You know, do anything, have any discrepancies or whatever?
Speaker 2:it is.
Speaker 1:Do they cheat? I don't know. Is there fraud going on? Was a volunteer called me and said I'm talking to a voter? And they told me they were. They started talking about city council race, not school board, because some of my voters would get into conversation. I mean, my volunteers would get into conversations with the voters.
Speaker 1:And she said the lady's concerned because she accidentally selected more than she should Like. For city council, we only have two positions open and she had selected four because she just liked all four of the candidates. And the my volunteer told her your vote's not going to count because they can't. They don't know who you're voting for. Oh, what should I do? So she said I'm going to call LA County and find out the registrar office and find out if I can get you a new ballot or what we can do. They told her oh, just tell her to cross out the names that she doesn't want. And she said well, she's made a few mistakes. You will accept a ballot that has names crossed out.
Speaker 1:And my thing is how easily any ballot can be open. It literally takes seconds where you can cross it out and circle in. And oh, you're just. You don't trust the system? Well, no, because of how easily it could be manipulated. You may have five wonderful, very, you know, intelligent and confident. You're confident that they're good poll workers. All it takes is one person to mess with it.
Speaker 1:So not saying that it's happening, but I myself, when I called the uh registrar office and I talked to whoever's in charge of ballots, I said this makes me uncomfortable. And he's like are you questioning the integrity of our ballot process? I said well, yes, of course, because that makes me uncomfortable the fact that anybody can just pick up a pen, cross out her name and bubble in another one. And I said I don't know. I said do you guys have cameras? Yeah, it's on a live feed. When you look at the live feed, you can't see anything. It's so far away you can barely see what's on the table. And then I said so are you guys checking to make sure that poll workers don't have pens? They're not allowed to have ink pens. I said what does?
Speaker 1:that mean yeah, they're not allowed to have ink pens. I said so what kind of pens are they allowed to have? They're not allowed to have ink pens. And he repeated it like three times, which was just so weird of a statement to make, and I said you know what it's out of my jurisdiction, like I don't know what we can do about it. You know, that part I have no experience in. They say recounts cost a lot of money. Because the margins were so small I could have requested a recount.
Speaker 2:How much would it cost?
Speaker 1:A minimum, $50,000 minimum. From what I've been told from previous politicians who wanted to do recounts, they said it costs a lot of money so you might have to fundraise just for that. And I thought, jesus Christ, this is like going to drag on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's corrupt, it's very corrupt. You know, again, it's not a hundred percent, but you feel you can see, you see the logic, you see, you know, you hear people, you you can, I mean you listen, people talk, you listen. So definitely I think that well, are you gonna run next time, or this is it?
Speaker 1:you know, I went in the beginning when I said I would never run for a seat and then I proved myself wrong. So I don't want to say I will never run again. But right now I am so exhausted I cannot comprehend going through this and putting my family through this again, maybe when my kids are older and maybe when I've, you know, learned a little bit more in regards to what's you know. I've, you know, learned a little bit more in regards to what's you know. I guess I have to see how elections are going in the next couple of years, because the voter engagement is very low. And when you have voter engagement at a low level like that, it's very difficult to convince people to vote, because they've lost a lot of trust in the system they have They've yes vote. Because they've lost a lot of trust in the system they have, they've yes.
Speaker 1:And you know the, for example, the recall efforts for Newsom so or not not Newsom, sorry Gascon, because you had even his own party, uh, against him, you know. And then it just like, nope, done, you know, didn't work, it just made people so, um, discouraged. They're like it doesn't even matter anymore. It's all corrupt, it's all decided. And I don't want to believe that. I still feel like we should vote and we should.
Speaker 2:Of course we should.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I feel like we should still participate. I don't know.
Speaker 2:It's giving up. I don't think that that's an option. Definitely not an option. What are you going to do for yourself and your family? Any plans for yourself after all this?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did take a couple of weeks off of social media because the amount of messages I was getting, questions and people I lost track of how many people I helped vote that weren't even in my district. They couldn't even vote for me. But that's how important I found the voting process because I wanted people to be involved. So, for myself, I've neglected myself very much throughout this campaign. I feel like I've the whole self-care aspect. I've gained weight, I've lost sleep, I've kind of like fell out of touch with my mommy groups, my friends and family, my cousin groups, and so I feel like I have to do something for myself, for my family.
Speaker 1:One of the first things we did right after elections ended we booked a trip and took the kids to Legoland and we went to the flower fields. It was beautiful, amazing. And we went to the flower fields. It was beautiful, amazing. Highly recommend it. So just concentrate on my family. Help my husband, hopefully, but right now I feel like I need to take a mental break from anything that's going to be like heavy and, you know, taxing. It's understandable.
Speaker 2:You deserve that.
Speaker 1:And just a little bit of attention to myself.
Speaker 2:How are you?
Speaker 1:going to do that, I think, by going back to my daily walks. I used to take daily walks, whether it was a park or a botanical garden. You know I loved daily walks right before going to work or before starting my day. I do a quick, like 30-minute walk and be in touch with nature. I love waterfalls. I specifically go places to see waterfalls. So I feel like I have to kind of do that and get back to my exercising. My cooking was such a big therapy for me.
Speaker 2:It's the best it is. I'm learning how to make sourdough bread. Oh yeah, I'm so excited I've registered for classes.
Speaker 1:Oh, you have to give me information.
Speaker 2:I will. I think cooking is such a big part for us as Armenian women.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Especially when you cook with your hands.
Speaker 1:I know it's therapy, it's therapeutic.
Speaker 2:One question I have for you is what parts of yourself do you love and what parts of yourself you don't?
Speaker 1:I would say my determination, my loyalty, um, my very strong personality of not giving up. Uh, I, I recognize that and I applaud myself for having that skill and that, you know, mindset I'm not one to easily break which I admire about myself as well, absolutely. And it's very hard for people to recognize that. And I will say it took me a while to get to that part of my life where I recognized my own courage and the amount of responsibility I took upon myself and I still didn't let it break me. You know people lose campaigns and then they go into the hiding. But you know that's not, that's not me. You know I can't do that because, regardless, I still have my kids in that school. And then it kind of like in reverse, the parts I don't like about myself is sometimes I tell myself, why do you care so much? Like be a little bit selfish? I wish I could be a little bit selfish.
Speaker 2:Is that hard?
Speaker 1:Very hard. Why? And because I compare myself to other moms and I'm like they're so out of touch with all this. They're so, like you know, caring about just their own, you know, whatever happens within their four doors, completely disregarding whatever's happening outside, as long as they're good within their four doors, as long as their business is flourishing, as long as they're driving the nice cars they have or, you know, doing whatever it is that they want to do in their life. I sometimes resent myself for not having a little bit more of a selfish personality where I could ignore certain things and, yeah, I think that's one of the biggest ones where I wish sometimes I was more selfish, you know, and just cared a little bit more about my. I mean, my family always comes first, but one of the things that I think I don't like about myself is I haven't been putting myself first.
Speaker 2:Is this something that you learned, that is important for you, that you're going to do? Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yes, because, no matter what I was, you know, after being a stay at home mom, once the kids went back to school when they were older, I had decided I'm going to pay attention to myself because all of a sudden, as a new mom, you find out that even taking a shower or having a five minute coffee break is a luxury, when it shouldn't be right. It's like basic human need to shower, but it's luxury, yes. It becomes like, wow, I got to shower today, you know, like that was such a reward. Or I got to brush my hair.
Speaker 2:Or teeth Exactly.
Speaker 1:Get out of the house, and it's especially when you're a full-time stay-at-home mom and you get thrown into this. You can't eat, sleep, breathe, use the bathroom nothing. It's especially when you're a full time stay at home mom and you get thrown into this. You can't eat, sleep, breathe, use the bathroom nothing. It's 24 hours. A little person relying on you. When they went back to school, I started paying attention to my own health, my mental health, my physical health, which is, you know, if you're physically not healthy, you're not going to be mentally healthy. No, absolutely. Your soul, your body, you know, if you're physically not healthy, you're not going to be mentally healthy?
Speaker 2:No, no, you know your soul, your body, everything's connected. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And from this campaign I did realize how much I neglected my own physical and mental health.
Speaker 2:And what did that do to you? And what advice do you give moms that do that? Yeah, so tell us about that.
Speaker 1:Well, the what that did to me other than the weight gain.
Speaker 2:No, we were talking about that. It's always that it always hits the weight gain for women.
Speaker 1:Yes, and you know, but again it's like I saw it and recognize it. Now I have to do something about it.
Speaker 2:Yes, Annetta, you have to take care of yourself.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. My advice would be don't delay it, because when you delay taking care of yourself, you end up in a position, or in a situation, I should say, that you feel like there's no going back. It's too late, I'm already here. It's hard, yes, it's hard. It's so much harder because the further away you go from who you are, look at all that path you have to go back to. That's beautiful, thank you.
Speaker 2:I love that Absolutely. And one thing I wanted to kind of add to that that's a beautiful statement, how you said, don't delay it. Yes, you have little ones watching you and you know I'm in a stage right now where I work with women and we talk a lot about being selfish and taking care of yourself and how important that is and taking care of yourself. Sometimes women think it's physical right. They think it's like getting your hair done, getting your nails done, and it isn't about beauty, it's about your inside done and it isn't about beauty, it's about your inside, your inner world, and nurturing that. But we have little ones watching and I think a lot of the times when women grow up, they tend to have this idea why is it hard for me to not take care of? Why is it hard for me to take care of myself? And I always think about this like did we see that from our own mothers?
Speaker 2:oh yes because they, I agree, were stuck cleaning cooking. I mean the Soviet times I don't know what times you, you know you lived in Armenia but it's the times that I lived in Armenia, where my mom didn't have a choice, she had to put you know, wash our clothes in cold water and go and you know, know, stay in line, break their own bread or sometimes stay in line for hours to buy bread, and we were home just watching our siblings we were five taking care of a two-year-old.
Speaker 2:So we haven't really seen our mothers take care of themselves and it's kind of hard to mimic that of themselves and it's kind of hard to mimic that. And so right now we have this chance, we have this opportunity to be that for our daughters, for our sons. So we cannot delay that. We need to take care of ourselves so that our children see that, because there's a thing called mirror neurons Monkey see, monkey do. It's learned behavior. So if your daughters see you taking care of yourself, nurturing yourself, not just nails and hair they're going to learn the importance of that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And when you mentioned in regards to mothers, my mom was. She was notorious for not taking care of herself. In that, and I'm not talking about her hair and makeup Nails were always done.
Speaker 1:Yes, but the internal like outside, very presentable, very like you know, I'm not talking about her hair and makeup nails were always done, yes, but the internal, the internal, outside, very presentable, very like you know, I'm good, but internally, my sister and I were the only ones who saw how much she struggled Correct and how much she suffered Correct, you know, because we knew she wasn't taking care of herself as a person.
Speaker 2:It was you guys, right, it was all about us.
Speaker 1:She, you know, sacrificed everything for us.
Speaker 2:And a healthy mom puts herself first. You know, it's kind of like that in my PhD program. The professor said when you go on an airplane, you know, when you sit on an airplane with your kids and if something happens, the flight attendants, they usually model behavior first. Right, it was safety, this, safety, that. Right, when that the? What is it called?
Speaker 1:The airbag, the airbag comes down, the mouth. Things right, correct who?
Speaker 2:are you supposed to put that on first Yourself? Obviously yourself, because if you put that on your kids, by the time anything happens you're gone Right. So you put that on yourself, so you can take care of your kids. You feed yourself first so you can take care of your kids. It's not a bad thing, it's wonderful to take care of yourself first. So, yes, thank you for that, don't ever ever delay it and I love that statement.
Speaker 2:Anneta, it's such a wonderful honor to have you here. I could literally go on and on and on talk for hours. You bring such insight and you're so inspiring. I actually do admire your courage because at any point you could have been like what is the point? As you said, you know so many moms are behind doors in their safety and their kids are good, and you're out here fighting the fight. So I admire you and I thank you for that. I don't know how often you hear that from people like wholeheartedly. I thank you for that. I don't know how often you hear that from people like wholeheartedly. I thank you for that because you are a person that's doing God's work.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:So thank you.
Speaker 1:It's a badge of honor. It's a hard one, but I, you know I have to do it.
Speaker 2:Thank you, I'm sure, and we all have to we'll follow you.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:I loved your studio.
Speaker 1:I'm so honored you wanted me to be a guest. Yes, I did so. Very much appreciate you give me this platform to speak, regardless of what the election results were because I feel like people usually call they get more attention if they're winning you are a winner. Thank you, I see myself as a winner.
Speaker 2:You are. You better see yourself. You are a winner. And I tell one last question what advice do you give moms?
Speaker 1:Oh, it's such a hard, hard world and I feel like the biggest responsibility and the biggest burden is on mothers. Um, but I, I will say I was and became a better mother when my relationship with my husband improved. So it it's like the teamwork was, you know, I made myself, he made me a better person, I made him a better person. And to recognize, and that fathers don't get a lot of, you know, we sat here, we talked so much about mothers that fathers don't get the proper recognition that they should. And I have an amazing dad and my kids, like my husband's, their world, you know, and I think just that whole family dynamic, it's already at risk, you know it's the nuclear family is at risk. And if we aren't internally supporting the mom, the dad, our own husband, our own spouses, then the outside world can, of course, break us.
Speaker 2:Yes, it can. Dads are important Very. The world wouldn't be the world without dads us. Yes, it can. Dads are important Very. The world wouldn't be the world without dads, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yes, and to moms, I just, I just encourage you as much as you can, don't be intimidated by outside, outside forces, and and majority of the moms I've met are very, very courageous. Yes, they are you know, especially in our community.
Speaker 2:Yes, the moms are so courageous, mama bears.
Speaker 1:Yes, and appreciate yourself, take care of yourself. Mother's Day is almost coming up, you know, and we think that we have to spend Mother's Day with the kids, but at night, I think we should do like girls night. Yes, and take care and appreciate ourselves a little bit. So you know, and we are our worst critics as moms. So, give yourselves a break. You're good.
Speaker 2:Be gentle.
Speaker 1:Yes, be gentle with yourself. I love that. Thank you, of course. Thank you.