#Fearless4Friday with Hillary Clinton at Chicago Ideas Week

During Chicago Ideas Week, I had the pleasure of attending the launch event, hosted by Hillary Clinton discussing her latest book, Hard Choices. I am a huge fan of politics and grabbed a ticket as soon as they were on sale! The event featured the former First Lady, U.S. Senator and Secretary of State in a one-on-one interview with her friend and colleague from the Clinton administration, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel.

As a public figure consistently challenging herself and everyone around her to fight hard for what they believe in, Hillary Clinton truly embodies the true meaning of fearlessness, in my humble opinion.

Here are her most #Fearless moments from the event:

1.  Down time. Clinton said she’s enjoyed using the “down time” she’s had since resigning from her post as Secretary of State. She has been spending more time with her family and continuing to champion her most precious social causes – that’s in addition to writing a 600+ page book and maintaining a brisk drumbeat of speaking appearances across the globe! This time for reflection has given birth to a newly-adopted candor, unveiled at the start of her book tour. In both an exclusive ABC interview with Dianne Sawyer and the Chicago event two days later, Clinton began conversations with the disclaimer that she is done listening to advice about what she should be talking about: "I say what I am going to say and let those chips fall as they may.”
2. Public remarks. During her ABC interview, Mrs. Clinton responded to a question from Diane Sawyer claiming that she and former President Bill Clinton left the White House “dead broke.” The remark sparked a nationwide eye-roll from skeptics claiming the Clintons are out-of-touch with the middle class. Even Rahm Emmanuel, a friend to the former Clinton administration, addressed the comment, “Dead broke? Really?” the Mayor asked. “Well … that may not have been the most artful way to say that.” Clinton responded.
3. Behind-the-scene stories. This sort of controversy isn’t new to her.. Her interview with Mayor Emmanuel was sprinkled with behind-the-scenes stories of some of her most famed moments from her tough-love relationship with former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, during her husband’s presidency to her vital negotiating role during the Israeli-Palestinian Gaza crisis. It was easy to tell by the energy in the room that the audience loved a glimpse behind the curtain – one of the crowd’s favorite was a story about an environmental conference in Germany where she and President Obama set out to convince Chinese and Indian officials to adopt transparent greenhouse gas reporting. After locating the Asian leaders’ private meeting, the two ducked and jumped past Chinese and Indian security and marched into the meeting to negotiate.
4. Bold advice. Probably the most #Fearless moment of Hillary’s conversation was her response to Emmanuel’s question asking her opinion on what voters should think about in  the upcoming 2014 and 2016 elections. She boldly responded, "Don’t vote for anyone who says they are against compromise."

Clinton’s sharp response earned a zealous round of applause from the audience and foreshadowed what will likely be a major pillar of her platform for the potential 2016 presidential race. To see more on Hilary Clinton’s interview with Mayor Rahm Emmanuel, click here.