Are you fed up with the corporate bullshit holding you back? Welcome to Invest in Yourself, the digital entrepreneur podcast. The ultimate launchpad for entrepreneurs ready to seize control and unleash their creative genius. Hosted by Phil Better, the podcast mogul. Each week he's breaking the chains of conventional work with bold strategies, raw insights, and inspiring success stories from the digital entrepreneurs who took the risk and invested in themselves. This is your call to arms. Invest in yourself, break free from someone else's rules and build the empire you deserve. Now let's dive head first into today's explosive episode.

Welcome back to another amazing episode of Investing Yourself, the Digital Entrepreneur podcast being hosted over here at PaoloPalooza. But today's guest is a first ever. They're a trailblazer, a change maker, fearless advocate for systematic systematic change because they come from the halls of government to the front lines of entrepreneurship. She's dedicated to her career to breaking barriers and driving impact. As a former Washington state senator, she spearheads nearly 30 bills focused on environmental justice and equality. But her mission didn't just stop there. She's the founder of Canary Revolution and Moxie Money using her business acumen, fundraising expertise, and passion for social justice to create lasting change. And if that wasn't enough, she's also a creator of an award winning documentary documentary doc.

You think I could speak documentary badass women doing kick ass shit. Get ready to be inspired by a leader who is provide proving that business, politics, and purpose can go hand in hand because today, we're sitting now with Mona Diaz. Mona, thank you so much for being here.

It's pronounced Das, just so you know. Das. Oh, I've opposite it's spelled the opposite of sad, I like to say.

I I love that. Das. It is because you are obviously with the energy you bring to it, you're the opposite of sad. You're you're the powerhouse of positivity.

That's right. Powerhouse of positivity. I like it.

So I wanna know first Yeah. We're gonna do we're gonna tackle two questions. I normally ask why you became an entrepreneur or why did you just like throw out the shackles. But I wanna know why did you decide to become a senator and then switch the game to becoming an entrepreneur? So why did you become a senator first?

Well, I started off as an entrepreneur, and then I will tell you this story is my favorite to tell. And I just landed my first TED Talk in Florence, May. So you're gonna hear basically my TED Talk, but here's how it goes. So I do my best thinking in the shower. Oprah Winfrey says it's because it's complete separate sensory deprivation. And so I was visiting my brother one day, and I got out of the shower. And he was with his girlfriend, now wife, mother of my amazing nephews. And I said, I'm gonna be a senator.

And we literally laughed out loud because I'm Indian. Like, I'm very classically Indian. Half my family are doctors. The other half are engineers, and there's no other choices for people growing up in The United States as Indians. Like, that's just your only choices. So when I said I wanted to be a senator, we literally laughed out loud. And it's one of those ideas that I call my BHAGs, big, hairy, audacious goals, that I put on the shelf. And I know we all have those.

The thing that you envision, the universe downloads it or got or source or whatever you call it, download it to your brain, and you go, no. I can't do that. And this was that dream for me. And so this dream sat on the shelf for many, many, many, many years. Fast forward, and I am walking my dog. And believe it or not, my little dog, Cleveland, has more energy than I do. And Hard to believe. He's yeah.

It's very hard to believe. You should've seen him. And so if I would stop on a walk, he would bark and pull. And so I literally oh, I gotta I gotta do the demonstration. I literally oops. My phone was I literally saw a sign, and it was a yard sign. And it said Pramila Jayapal for state senate. And I knew four things when I saw this sign.