(upbeat music) - Coming up on Inspire, women continue to break the glass ceiling in multiple professions including politics.

We realize that to create change and have our voices heard, we need to be a part of the political process, but it's not easy.

A discussion on women in politic, stay with us.

(bright upbeat music) - [Narrator] Inspire is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart, using furniture to inspire conversation, and by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.

(upbeat music) - Hello and welcome to Inspire.

I feel a sense of women power on today's episode.

And I'm so happy to be on this show with a couple of powerful women near and dear to me, my co-host Betty Lou Pardue as well as Amy Kelly.

(Amy laughs) And we're gonna have a powerful discussion today on the impact of women in politics.

- I have tremendous respect for women who enter the political game knowing the scrutiny that comes with the job.

- Very true, Amy, and it's not easy, but women understand the value of having representation within the political process.

And many are willing to pursue careers in politics with the goal of having our voices be heard to create positive change and inspire future generations of young leaders.

Joining us to give us a glimpse into the experience she's had with their own political careers are Joan Wagnon, retired American politician known too many of us as our fabulous former mayor of Topeka.

And Vicki Schmidt, Kansas insurance commissioner.

And ladies, we thank you so much for joining us today.

(cheering) I love you both more than have loved you for years.

- But many that might be tuning in, don't realize the importance of the significance that each of you have brought to this area.

And former Mayor Wagnon, if you would start, what got you interested in saying, "I think I can do that?"

- Well, it wasn't so much I think I can do that, it's they're not doing what I want them to do.

- And so I had been involved in a lot of neighborhood issues and had been involved in community levels things.

And I just, I...

There was an opening in my legislative seat and this was like 1982.

That's a long time ago.

- [Betty] Yes, yes.

- And there weren't very many women.

And there were three women from Shawnee County who filed for office that year.

And we kind of took them by storm and we doubled the number of women in the legislature that year in the, in the 82 election.

Well, now they're at least three times that many more and it's good, yeah.

- [Betty] That's fantastic.

- So it was wanting to get something done that brought me in.

- I love it.

- And Commissioner Vicki Schmidt.

- My story is very similar.

I was appointed to the board of pharmacy around 1996 by the former governor Bill Graves and I was...

I'm a pharmacist by train and profession.

I was honored to be asked to do that.

One of the things that he did, was he sent out a... Well, a request that everybody go through their rules and regulations and their state laws and get rid of the things that weren't applicable anymore.

That's a great idea and we wanted to do that.

But what that involved then was the Board of Pharmacy coming before the legislature to testify and to... Because you had to go through that process to get that to happen.

And I (mumbles) all weekend long and prepared, and was just so nervous to go.

I don't think I had been to the capital since the sixth grade tour when I was in... (laughing) - In which time we came up by the train.

So, you know, got my suit on, got my good clothes on, went up there to testify.

And fortunately it was a hearing that was held after lunch.

And two people fell asleep.

- Oh my goodness.

- (laughs) Oh, no.

- Legislators, legislators.

When I was at where I was tell... You know, when I was saying my story I was pretty hot and I came home and I told my husband, "You know what?

If there is ever an opening in my district, I'm gonna run for it."

And we... Our children were smaller at the time and my husband kind of nodded his head and said, "Okay, that sounds good.

What are we having for dinner tonight?"

- Wow.

(laughing) - We moved on and you know, and then 2004 came and there was an opening in the Senate and it was a...

The incumbent wasn't running, it was an open seat.

And so I told my husband, I think I'm gonna run for it.

And our youngest one was finishing up her senior in high school and seemed like good time.

So I threw my hat in the ring and went through a four way primary and ended up...

The rest is kind of history.

And then, you know, served 14 years in the legislature.

So it's funny how things can just motivate you to do that.

- Right, but I do love it.

Thank you guys for...

I mean, you have laid such wonderful groundwork for women.

- [Danielle] Yes.

- Well, we also made, I think a whole lot of difference on issues that we care about.

I mean, you've done wonderful things with health.

And in your role now with overseeing the insurance industry, I can't think of a better time to have someone that really understands family issues.

I got involved because of domestic violence.

I was the director at the YWCA, did that for years and went over and testified before the all male white Senate judiciary committee.

- Wow.

- Wow.

- And they ate me alive and I thought never again.

So I learned how to do it and got involved on a lot of women's issues, but a lot of other things as well.

- Well talk about some of the challenges of being a woman in politics when there are so many men that are out there.

In fact, I saw an interview with former governor, Kathleen Sebelius talking about, there are ways that she can say something that she'll get critique for, whereas a man would say the same thing and he would get no kind of fuss about it at all.

So talk about that fine line of doing what it is you do and being a woman doing it.

- Well, I know for me, I'm one of like 18 women serving as an insurance commissioner right now.

- [Danielle] Wow.

- And when I was elected to the Senate, I was one of 13 and now there are 15 senators that are female.

It has fluctuated through the years, both ways increased and decreased.

You know, I do think though it might be a little bit of a misconception that being a female that it's somehow wildly different than a lot of my male colleagues.

I mean, I think we all fit some of the same thing.

I can never remember a vote where it was the males all voted one way and the females voted another way.

I do think though, that women bring a different perspective to the table, just be... We all bring a different perspective to the table.

You know, whether that's a male, female, or your background, your vocation, whatever that is.

- What about you?

- The only time that I think I was truly discriminated against for being a woman, I was coming outta graduate school at the University of Missouri and they were looking at school consolidation, and the guy who was running the program, this is 1968, the guy who was running the a program, looked at me and said, "I won't hire you because school board members are all men and they don't wanna talk to women."

- Wow.

- And so I went to the Human Relations Commission in Jefferson city and they said, "You can't do that."

Since then I think it's a matter of doing exactly what Vicki's talking about, learning what you're talking about and declaring your own interest and expertise in certain issues.

And people will respect you for what you know, and for standing up.

And I think there's a great advantage in the political races now for women candidates.

- [Danielle] In what way?

- And they sem to be more honest, more truthful, more approachable, which is probably not true, but the public sees it that way.

Do you think that's true?

- I think we can distill an issue down sometimes quicker.

- Yeah, you're absolutely right.

(laughing) - Not always, not always.

(laughing) I don't wanna lose anyone, but you know, not always, but no, you know, I think women tend to bring a little bit of more emotion sometimes to the table.

That can be good and it can be bad, it can... That can cut both ways.

- You're still gonna have to learn the roles that you're supposed to play.

You're gonna have to learn the rules and you're gonna have to learn who all the people are and do a lot of hard work.

The women that I know that have been in the legislature that I've served with, all have been at exceptionally motivated and therefore have learned everything they need to know.

Kathleen, I don't think knew much about insurance when she started, but she sure did learn.

- [Danielle] She sure did.

- And I don't... You know, you came from a different perspective, but-- - Right, right.

- Insurance is not always easy.

- You know, I know a little bit about the health space because of my profession, but property and casually life insurance, there's tons of the financial parts of examining a domestic company.

There's a lot to learn.

- Well, this has been a wonderful discussion so far, and you know what?

We're gonna take a short break, but I promise you we'll be right back to continue this discussion, so stay with us.

(upbeat music) - Thanks, ladies.

I'm Sarah Starr, and I'm excited to bring you a bit of inspiration to add to your daily activity routine.

In today's session, we'll be focusing on improving balance, helping to create more stability and awareness in your everyday living.

Join me as we create more calm and focused with this quick accessible yoga practice, exploring our center of gravity and strengthening our bodies while using a chair for support.

Relax and remember your Happy Yoga smile.

Namaste.

(upbeat music) - [Instructor] Begin by standing with your left hip closest to the chair with your left hand to the chair for support.

(bright music) Adding a lateral stretch reach the right arm up and over to the left breathing wide into the right side body.

Continue rooting down evenly through the feet, lifting up and out of both sides of the waist.

(bright music) Released and repeat to the opposite side.

(bright music) With the right hand to the chair for support, reach the left arm up and over to the right, breathing wide into the left side body.

(bright music) Release and return to center using the right hand to the chair for support standing with your right hip closest to the chair.

Shift the weight into the right foot using the left hand to draw the left knee in.

Slowly, draw the left knee open to the left, lower the left hip slightly so it's in line with the right standing tall with the core engaged.

(bright music) Draw the left knee back to center and release.

Repeating to the opposite side.

With the left hand to the chair for support shift the weight into the left foot.

Use the right hand to lift the right knee up, standing tall with the core engaged.

Gently guide the right knee open, roll the outer right hip down, as you firm the outer left hip in gently pressing the top of the left thigh back.

(bright music) Draw the right knee back to enter and release.

Transitioning into modified tree pose, standing with your right hip closest to the chair, using the right hand to the chair for support.

Shift the weight into the right foot, place the left heel to the right ankle, calf muscle below the knee, or use left hand to please the left foot to the top of the right thigh.

(bright music) Reach the left arm to the sky, lengthening the tailbone towards the earth, keeping the pelvis in a neutral position, lightly firming the lower ribs in.

Adding a lateral stretch, reach the left arm up and over to the right lengthening to the left side body.

(bright music) Slowly return to upright and release.

Repeating modified tree pose to the opposite side.

Using the left hand to the chair for support shift the weight into the left foot, place the right heel to the left ankle.

(bright music) Calf muscle below the knee, or use the right hand to place the right foot to the top of the left thigh.

Continue lengthening the tailbone towards the earth, lightly lifting through the lower belly and when you're ready reach the right arm to the sky.

Firmly press the soul of the right foot to the inner left thigh resisting with the outer left leg, pointing the right knee open to the right opening across the hips.

(bright music) Adding a lateral stretch, reach the right arm up and over to the left breathing wide into the right side body.

(bright music) Stay connected to your smooth even breath as you release.

(bright music) Coming to take his seat, completing our yoga practice for today.

(bright music) Namaste.

(bright music) - Thank you for joining me.

Hopefully, I've inspired more activity and mindfulness in your day.

See you next time.

(upbeat music) - And we're back with Joan Wagnon and Commissioner Schmidt Ladies on our last segment, we were talking very excitedly about the role that women can play in politics and how that is different than maybe the role that men play and some of those interesting dynamics.

Question I have, actually, this may apply more to you, Mayor Wagnon, you said you started getting involved in the early '80s?

Okay, and so commissioner, you are actually actively involved right now.

If you had a choice... And I thank you for all the work you've done, but if you had a choice, are you glad you did it in the 1980s when you did it or if you could wave your magic wand, would you start over and do it now and be at the ground floor in light of all the changes that have happened in the past 35 years?

- I don't really know how to answer that.

I'm not as pleased with some of the conflict that goes on in the legislature now, compared to when I was there in the '80s and in the '90s.

Republican women, Democrat women would get together on a regular basis.

We were friends, still some of my closest friends are people who were in an opposite party.

That polarization between the two parties, the two tribes, so to speak, concerns me because in order to get things done, you've gotta work with a lot of different people.

And so I don't know that I would shift forward in time, but I would still be wanting to raise my hand.

I see something that needs to be fixed and here's what I'd like to do.

- Commissioner, do you agree with that or has that been your same experience?

- I totally agree with that.

You know, I think that that is a little bit what is lacking in today's politics.

People don't take the time to get to know each other.

I think it's... As she has talked about, we, you know, we used to get together just...

In fact, we used the house and the Senate females, we used to go out in an evening just to socialize and get to know each other.

A lot harder to yell at somebody on the Senate floor when you know their family history, you know, some of their struggles and you've shared your struggles.

And you know, I think that the... You know, to me compromise isn't a bad word.

And I think some of the hardest things that I did in the Senate and maybe even now in this job, but you know, is to get people to come together on an issue and to... Everybody has to give up something to get there.

And you know, we used to say that a good piece of legislation was when nobody walked away from the table and thought they'd won and that they were...

It was a great time.

- That's true.

- The best pieces of legislation were when everyone was a little bit unhappy and... - Yeah.

- But yet you reached an end goal and you know, that takes a lot of hard work and those are tough times.

- And a lot of compromise.

- But now as you're going up through the ranks and different jobs, what's that experience like?

(laughing) - That's entertaining.

(laughing) You know, your constituencies change and-- - Oh yeah.

- And certainly for both of us, our constituencies change.

You know, being a Senator, you know, I had 75,000 people or about in Senate district, but then to go statewide campaigning is a whole different experience.

And then just being responsible, you know, I'm one of 11 elected commissioners.

Most other commissioners are appointed by a governor or a board or a...

But, you know, I say I'm...

The bug stops with me in the department and... Or with the decisions.

I can't blame it on the governor or a board or say, "Well, they told me not to do that or they told me to do that."

So, you know, I think the constituencies change.

But with each one I've grown and I have been so thankful for the people that I've met.

We live in a great state.

I don't want anyone to lose that sentiment.

...state is really great, and to go out on the campaign trail and to meet people from the far corners and are densely populated areas and sparsely populated areas, we share a lot of the same common goals and we need to concentrate on that.

- I don't know whether I moved up or I moved down.

(laughing) I mean, it would be something you could think about, but I started in the legislature and then ran for mayor, and ran for mayor because I was all involved with neighborhood issues.

And I just really like getting in the middle of things.

And we were trying to develop the Washburn-Lane Parkway and trying to keep central Topeka so that we didn't have so many dilapidated houses and code enforcement problems.

That is a world apart from being in the legislature.

- Yeah.

- And I would get calls at home all the time.

I got a lot when I was in the legislature, but being mayor, I was right out there on everybody's quick dial list.

And it's not intrusive, it's just constant.

And after about the first three months, Vicki, I thought, when is this over?

The session has got to end.

(laughing) But it doesn't, it's 90 days in the legislature and it's 365 times four years in the city.

And then I went from that to working for Kathleen Sebelius as secretary of revenue, running an agency.

And I don't know which I liked the best, they were all different.

- Which... What would you say to women who are thinking about entering into politics?

I'm sure that you would encourage them, but what would you say to them to give them that motivation?

'Cause it it's kind of gotten ugly especially as of late.

So what would you say to say, to empower them to go forward and do that.

- Be sure you know what you're getting into.

I think women belong in the political arena, I think the political arena is better for the women that we have there.

- [Danielle] Absolutely.

- But they need to understand what it is they're trying to do.

And sometimes I've worked with younger people who are wanting to run for the city council and they don't know how it works.

So, before you jump, make sure you know what you're getting into and is this what you really wanna do and then knock on every door and be prepared for the time of your life.

- Absolutely.

Commissioner Schmidt.

- And I think I agree with all of that.

I'm not sure I knew what I was getting into when I ran for the Senate and I...

There were a few surprises along the way, like, oh my gosh and somebody said, "Did you not check that out?"

No, I guess I didn't.

(laughing) But on the other hand, it's been immensely rewarding.

And I think that, you know, we absolutely have to mentor, the people behind us to do this.

And I think going in with your eyes wide open is good, but I also think that we need to help them identify themselves as someone who can do it.

Because I think that women tend to think of themselves as, you know, mothers, grandmothers, spouses, you know, we don't always think of ourselves as a... That's not a role that we take, that we think we can just do.

And they need (mumbles) and I always tell him, step it up, do it and we'll help them and get going.

- And we love you both.

Joan Wagnon, Commissioner, Vicky Schmidt.

I tell you what, (group cheering) thank you both for joining us on thanks choir.

- Thank you.

- We like to just say, Joan and Vicki 'cause they're our friends and they've been friends to all of us and so-- - [Danielle] Amazing women.

- Hang on, we are going to continue with an inspiring discussion women in politics, so stay right there.

(upbeat music) - Ladies, I have truly been inspired by the discussion that we had with Joan Wagnon and Commissioner Vicki Schmidt today.

What were some of the bigger takeaways that you came up with after having this discussion?

- I wouldn't-- - Because it was so impactful.

- It was.

I'll tell you I was just honored that they would both be here-- - At the same time.

- Yes.

- Yes.

- And to have started when they did, when very few women were working and even trying to do that.

So I'm totally impressed with them and that they're still in it and they still care, and they're still working for us.

- And it's hard work.

I mean, it's grueling doing politics and having opinions and having people disagree with you and it hurts.

I have to say the thing that hurt most was when, you know, Joan Wagnon said, "You know, if she had to do it again, she would not probably engage today because of the uncivil discourse that's going on."

And the commissioner also confirmed that, it was like, "That's not the way it should be."

We can disagree and just agree to disagree, but that's... And it's just sad to think that's where they are because without people like Mayor Wagnon and commissioner Schmidt, we're not making progress on the things that matter to women and families.

- And I've admire Joan Wagnon since I was a teenager.

I came Topeka for Close-Up Kansas and got to spend a week just checking out the political process behind the scenes and to see her in action.

- [Betty] Yeah.

- Just an amazing woman, she is a force of nature.

And the same way with Commissioner Schmidt.

- [Betty] Right.

- I just...

I love her, I love her honesty.

- [Betty] Yes.

- I love the way that she's connecting with people from when she talked about the densely populated areas.

- [Betty] Right.

- To the sparsely populated areas-- - Sparsely populated-- - She's for everybody and I think that sometimes we need to put our egos aside, and try to reach out and connect with people, 'cause we're all a part of this great state.

And I just love that their sacrifices, their families have had to sacrifice.

- Sure.

- Right.

- Not having them be a part of their lives and we should be respecting them instead of trying to tear them down.

So just kudos(claps) to them for doing what they do.

- Well, and just the fact that Vicki Schmidt is a pharmacist, I mean, her education, the things that she has done, that's just impressive.

And also the fact that Joan Wagnon...

I mean, look at that.

She's still involved.

- [Danielle] Yes.

- She's doing the Kansas Oral History, she knows the importance of us all being together and women working.

- [Danielle] There's no retirement.

- There you go, I like it.

- [Amy] I love that.

- I like it.

- When I grow up, I wanna be Joan Wagnon.

- [Danielle] Me too.

(laughing) - Or Vicki Schmidt, I can do both.

(laughing) (upbeat music) I'm sorry to say that that is all the time we have for today.

And this show is so inspiring and proves there are no limitations to what women can accomplish.

And if you wanna be inspired all over again, just go to watch ktwu.org to watch this show and all the inspired shows anytime you like.

- And if you're inspired to learn more about our wonderful guests today, find out what's coming up on future shows.

Be sure to visit our website, www.ktwu.org/inspire.

- Inspiring women, inspiring you and inspiring voices on KTWU.

Thank you for watching.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Inspire is sponsored by Kansas Furniture Mart, using furniture to inspire conversation and by the Blanche Bryden Foundation.