Adraine Conrad

My faith drives everything I do. I had some very, very powerful grandmothers - my mom's mom and my dad's mom - who were the pioneers of the family. I never wanted to let them down, no matter what I did. They became my village, especially when I got pregnant before I finished college and they thought that was a disappointment, but they stepped in to support me. More recently, I just lost my oldest son to epilepsy, and navigating these 2 years without him and stepping in on his behalf with his kids drives me as well when it comes to where I want to go and where I want to stay in this life. He was diagnosed at age 21 with frontal lobe injury from playing football, and I went through what he was going through to understand - I even signed up to play women's football just to learn so I could participate in his practice at home and know how to cheer him on and get in his mind. When he was diagnosed, I had to go from being that gentle mom to an actual counselor, encouraging him that he wasn't different, just tuned differently. He passed at 28 years old after having a seizure in the shower, and now I have beautiful grandkids to not only keep his memory alive but to make sure they understand what their dad would have wanted and to give them that extra love on behalf since he's not here.

When I first started here at the Capitol and I would see the people I saw on TV - the power makers, the governor, the lieutenant governor, secretary of State, the president - when President Bush came down because of Hurricane Katrina, I was nervous. But there were two ladies, two particular senators, who told me the same thing that changed everything for me. They said, when you walk in the room, they put their pants on the same way you do, no matter if it's a female or a male. You don't go in looking nervous, you don't go in acting shy. You speak, you talk like you belong there. And that's exactly what I've done since that day, and that's been almost 29 years ago in this area where I am now. That advice has stuck with me and shaped how I carry myself in every professional setting.

My advice to young women entering my industry is to avoid the temptation to compare your journey to someone else’s or to try to become a copy of another person’s success. While it is natural to admire others, I have learned that every individual has a unique calling, capacity, and path, and the cost someone else paid to reach their level is not the same one you are meant to pay. Instead, I encourage you to focus on becoming authentically yourself, gaining clarity about your purpose, and remaining consistent in your growth and development. Throughout my journey, I have been blessed to learn from remarkable mentors, including Senator Regina Barrow, Apostle Michael L. Smith, and Apostle Lawrence Hardy, as well as through personal life experiences, including my children and my late son, all of whom have taught me that every “mountain” requires a different approach, and that each level of success brings a new perspective and lesson.

Right now, I don't see any big challenges or opportunities as being difficult. All because I'm trained by mentors, I don't see anything big. If it's a mountain, I'm taught how to climb it properly. You just can't climb up a mountain in tennis shoes and with a regular old rope, you know what I mean? I've been shown by mentors how to properly climb different mountains. Every mountain does not have the same niche or groove in it, and it doesn't have the same view either once you get to that mountain. So it's because of good, great, great, amazing mentors on how to teach me, when they are teaching me and mentoring me, how to climb those difficult mountains that are in front of you. So I don't really see anything that's difficult right now in front of me.

The most important value to me is giving from a place of authenticity and overflow. Nobody knows better than a person that has been rejected when your heart is so big. When you have an amazing heart and you want to give all the time, but people don't understand that you're coming from that rejected space, and you just want to give to not have somebody feel the same way that you did - it really motivates me to push. A lot of people don't understand my giving, they really don't understand the giving part. If it's there for you, they'll take until they suck you dry, and then you are sitting there looking into an empty cup with the residue of what was there - it could have been hope, love, patience, guidance, anything. All of that is now a residue because of the taking. But if I give, I'm giving from the overflow of what was given to me and people that were assigned to me, whether it's in this political world or in the spiritual realm. Being a mom and a grandmom is the most gratifying thing - those roles in my positions are preparing and leaving a legacy for my grandkids and my kids to either want to pick up the torch or to keep something going in the community. Just being a mom and showing them that if you do right, be a good person, and follow God, it is most definitely the best way to go.