19: Finding Common Ground in a World of Differences with Host Andrea Walker Leidy

In this heartfelt solo episode, Andrea Walker-Leidy reflects on the tumultuous journey of 2024, sharing her thoughts on connection, communication, and the importance of finding common ground amidst diversity. Through personal stories and insights, Andrea reminds us of the power of empathy and storytelling to bridge divides and lift one another up.

Key Highlights:

• The Power of Connection
  
  
• Lessons from a Nine-Year-Old
  
  
• The Role of Communication in Divided Times
  
  
• Seeing the Bigger Picture
  
  

Resources Mentioned:

• Andrea’s podcast episode featuring an inspiring story of a nonprofit Maggie's Wigs for Kids working with children through wig donations. You can listen to the episode here: https://youtu.be/YnR3CDbdHJQ

How to Connect:

Follow Andrea on Social Media:

• Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/walkerpublicity/
•  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walkerpr/

Share Your Story: If you’d like to be featured on the podcast or know someone with an inspiring story, reach out to Andrea via email or social media.

Transcript

Andrea Walker-Leidy (00:01.358)
Welcome back. It's not just a Tuesday. It is December. I cannot believe it is already December. And I thought we could just use a check-in. It has been quite a 2024 and quite a last couple of months. And while I have had such an amazing time being able to have guests on that

have shared their stories and connected with us. I haven't had a chance to just connect and say hello and share my Tuesdays with you. So I'm gonna take a few minutes today and just talk about all of the Tuesdays we've had in the last couple of months and the impacts that we've seen across the country and across the world and we're gonna do a check-in. So hi, how are ya? How ya feelin'?

I think that question lands so differently on everyone right now and we're seeing and feeling so many different things. One of the things that I keep reminding folks is that we live in a world full of people where stories connect us all. My belief system never will change on that. I said this morning as I was giving a leadership talk that

when we connect enough, when we share enough, I believe that we will find common ground. We always will if we do it intentionally, if we do it with an open mind, a little, and wanting to connect rather than be right. So I'm going to talk about the elephant in the room that we've all just walked through in our country, that pesky little election. And I say it,

kind of tongue in cheek because I think that we've all had to navigate it in different ways. And I know that folks will be listening to this on who are who were pleased with the election and folks will be listening to this who were devastated by the election. And what's important to me and when I look at just the world through the lens of PR is that we remember that we are all people and that we are all living.

Andrea Walker-Leidy (02:28.576)
in our own reality that has never been clearer than it is right now. That although we may all be seeing the same thing, we are not all seeing it the same way. And we may in fact not all be seeing the same thing. And I know that nobody wants to hear that. And I know that is very uncomforting. And I know that it would be so great if we could say,

These are the ultimates. And I know that there are several belief systems that believe that there is ultimate truth and that we know that to be true and that's what it is and that's standard. I believe that we all know some things to be true. More important to me is connection than being right or knowing what's true.

And so I want to take a different look and take a few minutes to just talk about what our Tuesdays have looked like. If you've noticed anything, when I talk to people and I ask them what's on their calendar, nobody's calendar looks the same. Nobody's life looks the same. No one's Tuesday is the same. And we have to remember that if even just two people's Tuesdays are not the same,

What does that look like across an entire country? What does that look like across an entire world? The reasons that someone votes for someone, even two people voting for the same person or not voting for the same person for the same reason. Even the same reason exists differently. And I know that it sounds like I'm talking about theories that mean nothing, but this is really the way that public relations and communications and

and sharing in positive ways has to work. I work with companies where across the board nobody agrees. I work with nonprofits who do work for people in need that are currently having to figure out the way they talk about that work so that they can still get funding to care for the people in need. Now, what

Andrea Walker-Leidy (04:52.364)
What I come to that with is we're going to figure out how to serve the people who are in need. If that means we change what it's called, then let's change what it's called. And I want to encourage that when we look at things through a PR lens, when we look at things from a public relations and a communication first and a connection first lens, what that means is what is the work that we do? What is our mission?

Is this in our lane? And if it is?

we could call it something different and still get the work done. And I hate that I'm having to go through some of that work as a communications professional with organizations who are having to strip through how they talk about the work that they do and how they talk about underserved communities. I don't love that. Regardless of my political stance, it is sad to me.

that organizations are being threatened for the work that they do. And so because of that, I'm willing to say, what can we do? We can change the way we talk about things. We can change the way we explain things so that we can get the important work done. I, in the last couple of Tuesdays, have had the roller coaster of influx of information that everyone else has had. We all know.

that the news is everywhere, whether you believe it's real news or fake news, it's still out there, it's still information. And we hear it, and I think when you take a step back and you look at it from a communications standpoint, and what I do, we look at a high level view of communication.

Andrea Walker-Leidy (06:49.176)
We look at a higher level view of all of the news outlets and all of the social media outlets and how the algorithms work all the time, right? When I look at it that way, I realize that that reality that I talk about, it's not really in theory anymore. Because of the way we get our news, we all read different news. We all have different realities. Our headlines are all different. You know, it used to be that there was a newspaper and everyone got

the newspaper and everyone read the same headlines or everyone watched these certain news channels and over the years that has evolved and our and our the way we get news is different and in some ways that's so great because voices are being lifted that were never lifted before i'm having an opportunity to share my view to the seven people who might listen to this because i

created my own platform to be news, right? That didn't exist before podcasts and social media and the ability to share. I value that, I treasure that. I think that's so important. I think that's why it's so important that we just filter through what we take in. And so on this mini Tuesday where I'm just checking in,

I want to remind us that there are incredible stories happening every day where people are doing amazing things and they may have voted the same way you did and they may have not. And that doesn't really matter to the work that they do. It doesn't matter to the work that they do. And I know that's really tough for us to hear. It's really tough for me to hear. But at the end of the day,

We are people. I have to tell the story of what my son said the day that the election happened and we got results and life was moving on and it's been a month, right? But the day that we talked about the election and he's nine, so I'm explaining to him the way elections work and the way marketing works and the way money works and...

Andrea Walker-Leidy (09:15.65)
He's getting probably a little bit more of an in-depth chat than most kids are getting, I am in this business. we all kind of see through it more than we used to, I think. I'm telling him, they spend money on this ad, so they say this thing. And this is what their view is. So this is why they'll say it this way, and vice versa. So he understands that. so election happens, and we all have our own opinions.

And he says, well, okay. So in four years, this guy won't do that, won't do it again, and we'll get a different one. Yep. And he went to school that day and he had friends who were saying yay and friends were saying nay, which fourth grade, they're understanding this at fourth grade, which is just crazy to me, right? And so he came home and he said some friends were saying that they hated.

what happened and they hated the election and they hated the person who was going to be the president and he said, well, you can't do that. It doesn't matter if you like them or not. You can't hate them. That's like saying you hate me or your cousin. And I said, what do you mean? And he said, well, yeah, because didn't you, if we all came from God and God made people and then that's how we got to here.

right? This is our belief system, right? Is that God created us and then we have lived hundreds of thousands of years or even just a couple thousand whatever your belief system says, here we are, right? He said, well then really we're like all cousins. Even if I don't like my cousins sometimes I love them.

I want you to hear that.

Andrea Walker-Leidy (11:14.848)
You will find a way. are folks that I know who this will not resonate with them. They have to make some boundaries and you have to decide where you're allowing people into your life and where you're not based on these decisions. I'm choosing to say this nine-year-old gets it and everyone is my cousin. Because of that, I will

find a way to find common ground with everyone. Because of that, I'm not gonna tolerate anyone speaking lowly of any of my cousins, right? We have that innate in us to stick up for family and friends. We have that in us. And I don't know where we lost sticking up for everyone who needs to be stuck up for.

And I think that's all we, that's all that we are, we're asking. And that's what a lot of people are scared of. And I just want to remind us that we will be able to find common ground. We will be able to find connection. If you can't find it anywhere else, please reach out. I will find common ground with you. I, I, I may not like you, but we could find it.

I may not, you may not respect me, but we could find it. Whether it's a favorite coffee or a donut or a sunset or a shared childhood song, there is something that can connect us. We were all born. We are all living.

We are all living completely different lives and completely different existences. Our calendars are all different. So I have taken this year to really want to share stories of more Tuesdays. I want to hear your Tuesday. My curiosity gets the best and worst of me.

Andrea Walker-Leidy (13:36.812)
because it means I hear things that I really want to hear and it means sometimes I hear things that I really don't want to know. But I'm going to keep asking and I'm going to keep knowing. It's the journalist in me that's just going to want to keep asking questions even if I don't like the answers because I think that knowledge is everything. I think that the more we know, the more we will care and the more we will love. And so I'm going to keep talking until

I am able to find common ground everywhere. I'm going to keep talking until I am able to share enough stories that we realize that every story deserves to be lifted up and every individual deserves a safe place. I'm going to keep talking until we all realize that we are more the same than we are different. Until we all realize that what we think we know, we may not know.

And if that makes you uncomfortable, I ask why. If that makes you uncomfortable, find out why. And then work on that thing. Figure that thing out. Because being okay with not knowing is a really big part of life. And I wish that we could say that there's some concrete somewhere. There is some concrete. It's in my driveway. It's cracking.

But even that has a time limit, right? Even that someone had to put some time and work into and they had their own story. So we we're reaching the end of 2024. It has been a ride. I will be sharing one more podcast this year with an incredible woman who has a organization.

that really when I share these stories of the people who are doing this work with children who are suffering and she's finding a way to give them a little hope through wigs. And when you connect with someone like that you remember what's actually important and you remember that it really is just love and acceptance and when somebody is losing their hair and when someone's child is sick.

Andrea Walker-Leidy (16:04.32)
that's when we are cousins. That's when we're all the same. That's when your opinion of them or me doesn't actually matter anymore. And so I want to encourage you to listen to that and hopefully learn and take in and give back where you can. But take a step back. If I have anyone who has listened to me ramble for the last

few minutes. I hope that you feel encouraged that you are my cousin and my friend, whether I know you or not, that you are worthy and that you are equal and that you deserve to be known and your story deserves to be told. You have a Tuesday that is worth it and it's not just a Tuesday, it's a part of your life and it's a part of your story.

And it's a part of what's making all of our lives work. We all work off of each other. Because who we are is important to the next moment. So happy December. It is probably one of my favorite months of the year. And I will look forward to spending time with friends and family near and far. And I really hope that

we get to the other side of the things that we are facing. And if you are someone who is happy or feels hopeful because of the things that I believe we are facing, then I hope that you continue to learn and show love and find love.

Andrea Walker-Leidy (18:02.441)
understand that we are all so much more the same than we are different. And to view the world through the lens of equality and to view the world through the lens of if anyone's child was stuck and couldn't see the parade passing by, you would lift them up. You would put them on your shoulders so that they could see because they deserve to see and you want them to have that experience.

And I think we have muddied the explanation and the way we talk about so many things that we forgot that all of us deserve to be lifted up when we can't see over the crowd. And so I encourage you to lift someone up over the crowd and that if you make decisions based on being empowered and empowering others, then we're going to be okay.

I am I am tired and I am working hard and I am all of the things that I was yesterday I will be tomorrow and hopefully more And I think the more that we lean into those things the more we're gonna be okay if you would like

to join a podcast in 2025, I would love to connect with you. Please reach out. If you know of somebody who has a cool story to share, I would love for you to reach out. If you are watching this and you'd like to share it, please do. I wanna hear more stories and I wanna be a platform for sharing those stories. I wanna be a platform for lifting up voices. I wanna be a platform for

saying the things that may not always be easy to say. Because I think that if we communicate enough, we can all hear those things that are difficult to hear and difficult to say and find a way to understand them. So this is It's Not Just a Tuesday. Thank you for listening to my mind today and my check-in, my needing to check in.

Andrea Walker-Leidy (20:25.726)
Hope that you feel like we just had coffee and had a chat and you got to catch up with somebody who is Is experiencing life in a very similar way as the rest of you are? And and I hope that you feel encouraged that that that we are Really are in in life together and that we should be and that will continue to be And and I will I will

I will lift you up if you need to be lifted up, regardless of whose parent you have or what clothes you're wearing or where you're from or who you say you are or who you actually are or who you want to be. If you can't see the parade, I will lift you up. And I hope others will do the same. And I hope that when I can't see, I'm short, I hope that when I can't see, people will lift me up.

people have and people will continue to do that. So be encouraged, be empowered. This is, it's not just a Tuesday. I will see you on another Tuesday.