Mayor Katherine Kylila Rice is the Mayor of Geronimo, Oklahoma and a creative technologist. Mayor Rice is best known for improving communities and empowering people. She is the founder of Poetic Change and the CEO of Future of Fun, LLC. Mayor Rice is a New Leaders Council Fellow, Starting Bloc Fellow, Under 30 Changemaker , and was recently awarded Women of the Year by Perry Broadcasting.

Show notes:

1mWhat inspired you to become Mayor?- Kylila shares her story from technology entrepreneur to Mayor of Geronimo4mWhat was people saw in you that was Mayoral? - Young, entrepreneurial, being able to hire people and be professional- Background as a spoken word poet- Not afraid of failure- Good at receiving criticism 6mReaching for the stars and landing on the moon- Life is long and short at the same time- Moving away from perfectionism- Many means to reaching your desired ends9mKylila’s experience at a military university - Amazing things can happen just from your effort10mHow did you win your Mayoral campaign? - Talking to people: door knocking, sitting at peoples homes, conversations till late in the night- Getting out in the community, getting to know people- Reaching out to people to work around their schedule - Creating trust and having people feel like they were being heard- Being humble and willing to listen- Leading with curiosity 14mWhat are the similarities between being an entrepreneur and mayor?- Bootstrapping- Creative problem solving- Doing multiple jobs- Bartering- Asking for support- Working on multiple things at the same time- Being artistic - Time management25mHow to manage multiple projects at one- Creating deadlines- Time management strategies32mAdvice for people getting into local politics?- If you have good intentions just try- Make sure you take steps to take care of yourself- Community support is essential35mWhat is the significance and joy for you being mayor? - Giving people hope- Being the face of change- Seeing how you can positively influence people- Injecting compassion into a structured system- Creating community38mHow do you think the country would change if every Mayor were so compassionate and caring?- People would feel like “this place is home.”- The division we see is from people “othering” other people- Seeing America as your family- People emulate what they see- Valuing understanding as opposed to being right- Practicing compassion, respect, and understanding would help us heal as a nation so we can all feel like home42mReasons for running as an independent - See the vision and the dream as opposed to the party and its baggage- Building trust on a personal level- The goal is for everyone to get along and live our best lives- Elements of each party Kylila agrees and disagrees with46mIf you could leave people with one message what would it be?- Change comes first by speaking to people’s hearts- Learn how to care for one another- Meet people with love and understanding49mTo stay connected you can visit Kylila.com or search for Mayor Katherine Rice on Facebook and @Kylila on Instagram