Ep. 41 : From Survivor to Congress: A Bold Career Pivot with Laura Dunn
What if the scariest “yes” of your life is the one that changes everything?
This episode is a masterclass in courage, intuition, and answering the call—before you feel ready.
This week on The Pivot Point, Laura sits down with civil rights attorney and congressional candidate Laura Dunn for a conversation that is as raw as it is powerful. From surviving sexual violence to advising the White House, Laura’s story is not a straight line, it’s a series of bold, terrifying, deeply aligned decisions.
They unpack what it actually looks like to follow your inner knowing when logic is screaming “don’t do it.” From launching a national nonprofit overnight (thanks to a surprise White House feature) to running for Congress before having a plan, Laura shares how she’s learned to move fast, trust herself, and let courage lead, even when fear is loud.
This episode goes beyond inspiration. It’s a real, human look at what it takes to choose yourself, again and again. You’ll hear how panic attacks became data, how misalignment showed up in her body, and how she rebuilt trust in her own voice after years of deferring to “experts.”
If you’ve ever felt the pull toward something bigger, but doubted yourself into staying put—this one will hit.
What You’ll Hear
✔️The unexpected moment that forced Laura to launch her nonprofit overnight
✔️Why courage, not confidence, is the real driver of big life pivots
✔️How to recognize when you’re out of alignment (hint: your body knows first)
✔️The “lock yourself in” decision strategy that overrides fear
✔️Turning panic attacks into clarity and course correction
✔️Why following your intuition might look “delusional”—and why that’s okay
“I think my courage has always been stronger than my fear.”
Ready to stop second-guessing and start moving toward what’s next?
→ Book your free 20-min clarity call: https://leadintactwithlaura.as.me/free-clarity-call→ Download the Heart-Aligned Career Transition Starter: https://www.leadintact.com/freebies/heart-aligned-career
If you want to reach Laura Dunn
Website: https://lauradunnforcongress.com/
Donation link: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/lauradunnforcongress
Volunteer link: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/volunteer-with-laura-dunn-for-ny-12/
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You are listening to the pivot point where we unpack the defining moments that shift careers and lives. I'm your host, Laura Dionicio, a founder of Lead Intacct, and my mission is to spotlight the raw real stories behind career pivots, the fears, the hopes. The messy middles and the bold decisions that follow if you're feeling stuck or quietly wondering what's next?
Laura: I hope these stories help you see yourself a little more clearly and inspire you to start moving toward your own dream life. Let's begin.
Laura: Hey there. Before we get into this powerful conversation, I do wanna share that we touch on sexual violence in this episode. If that's a hard topic for you, please take care of yourself. Feel free to pause, skip, or come back when you're ready. And with that, let's get to the episode. I.
Laura: Welcome, Laura to the Pivot Point Podcast. Fun fact, I think you're my fourth Laura, not including myself as my guest.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): All around you.
Laura: I do, but the difference is this is Laura d also, so we got two Laura D's in the house. You know, it's gonna be a great episode, and thank you so much for making the time to be here. I mean, I know you personally, and I'm so excited for my audience to get to know you as well.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Yes. Well, thank you so much for having me on. I'm excited by your podcast. I've listened to some episodes. You have wonderful guests and I'm honored to be among them.
Laura: Awesome.
Laura: So I'm gonna go ahead and start with reading your amazing bio, just so the audience can get to know you a little bit better. Laura Dunn is an award-winning civil rights attorney, former school teacher, and the only middle class candidate running for Congress and New York's 12th district. She has dedicated her career to fighting for victims in marginalized communities, in the courtroom, the classroom, and on Capitol Hill, bringing a powerful combination of legal expertise, working class values, and bipartisan advocacy.
Laura: Today as one of the nation's leading civil rights and victims' rights attorneys, Laura represents a new generation of leadership, one that can bridge divides and deliver results. She is running to bring a new era of accountability, affordability, and responsible innovation to Congress before becoming an attorney, Laura taught in public schools serving under-resourced communities.
Laura: Where she saw firsthand how policy decisions shape students' lives. An experience that continues to inform her work on education, equity, and reform. As a survivor of sexual assault, she has transformed her experience into meaningful national impact, helping to shape Title IX guidance with the Obama administration, and contributing to the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.
Laura: Her work has earned recognition at the highest levels, including an invitation from then Vice President Joe Biden to advise the White House Task Force to protect students against sexual assault and acknowledgement on the US Senate floor by former Senator Patrick Lee, for whom she later clerk. Unbought, unbossed, and unafraid.
Laura: Laura L. Dunn is fearless for the people. Yes. Welcome. wow. This is the thing, Laura, like I know you personally and it never ceases to amaze me when I read your bio. You have done such incredible things and for those who are watching on YouTube, Laura has her pin. On her shirt 'cause she's running for Congress for NY 12.
Laura: And what I would love to start with is, can you talk us at a high level, what brought you to this moment of running for Congress? Like where did this desire start to be fighting fearlessly for the people?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): That's a great question.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I am someone that has always found a voice for what is right in very hard circumstances. So I grew up in evangelical Christian pastor's daughter and was in Madison, Wisconsin, which is super liberal. So to be in a conservative setting in a liberal city, it like already creates a lot of conflict. And as a pastor's daughter, I had this unique position to speak my mind without people feeling easily able to challenge me. I just remember a lot of what I was hearing, feeling incorrect and like my very soul and my very being. There was a lot of misogyny, homophobia. I'm a queer woman, so that did not land well with me personally, and definitely just always realized that there was some level of hypocrisy going on within the church, and so I used my position all the time to kind of question things, push back on things, and speak for those who didn't feel comfortable because I had that position to be able to speak. I think through virtue of like being raised in that setting, I remember Mr. Lene, my social studies teacher from high school first saying You could be a senator. And I like kind of kept it. In my head and throughout my life, people have said it at different points and that's just to let the audience know, like women need to be asked to run like something like seven times before they do it.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): So if there's someone in your life, man or woman, but definitely for women especially that you're like, I see leadership in you. Say it, vocalize it and encourage people. 'cause we really do store this in our heart and use it to build us up. So.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I didn't know that I was going to experience sexual violence in college.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): That really shattered my entire worldview and my faith in institutions. I saw a system that was built to hide violence and shame women into silence and other victims into silence. uh, spoke out there and used my name, face and story at a time when no one did it. It was pre me too. And so this journey of finding my voice over and over and being in a position to make change really I think characterizes my life.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And it's no coincidence. I think that as a very little girl, like I'm talking 3, 4, 5 years old. The story of Esther and the Bible really stood out to me, and that is all about a woman who is effectively imprisoned. She may have been a queen, but it was not by her choice. It was to someone that she was forced to marry, and she used her position and used her voice to save her people.
Laura: Wow. I have goosebumps just listening to the story. I don't think I knew this much detail, even though I know you personally and what I'm connecting with and , first of all, it sounds like you've had this inner knowing, even as a three to 4-year-old, and recognizing the story with Esther like being in prison, but it wasn't by choice and the idea of.
Laura: Finding your voice and using your position to make change.
Laura: I'm curious because I'm sure there's, somebody, even in just this first five minutes of us talking, especially who might be in the church. Again, this is not a judgment, but I just hear a lot of stories where there's this kind of conflict like you said, and it sounds like you notice it pretty quickly on for the listener who is kind of feeling this inner conflict.
Laura: What would you say on like, how do they navigate that? Especially 'cause you went through like a horrific experience of sexual violence in college and it sounds like you went through a period where I think you said something like it made you a question and see things about the institution of, of religion, something like that.
Laura: Like how would you advise somebody who's feeling this inner conflict.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Oh, a great question.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): For me, taking space was necessary to resolve that conflict. So when I turned 18 and no longer had to be the pastor's daughter sitting in the pew I stopped going for a while and it didn't mean I lost my faith. It was a time for me to reassess and. Occasionally a family member would like bring me, and I would sit there and I would actually get, after my assault, I would get deeply, deeply emotional and distressed. And it was because there was no message for someone like me in this community. There was only judgment and blame if there was any conversation. Once in a while, I did find, you know, good individuals and leadership that did have some messages. But my impression of the church right now in America, and I'm painting with a broad brush. There's obviously places that have differentiation, but it is largely mediocre men who have no experience of oppression and who have taken leadership roles in a community that they want to keep uneducated and uninformed and leaning right. Like we are seeing the rise of Christian nationalism and we are seeing violent displays of masculinity under the name of God.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Literally have a president who claims to be a Christian, yet is in the Epstein files and accused of raping 13 and 15-year-old children. So I, that's the kind of hypocrisy that I somehow was always like in my field, even if I didn't have words for it. So I took space and then I found healers that really spoke what I felt was truth. And spent a lot of time with executive coaches, spiritual healers, traditional therapy, psychedelic healing, which is a big piece of my journey. And through all of that, I kept regrounding back into the truth that always was known in me. And for those who practice yoga, the whole idea is you quiet your mind and you then actually can reconnect with truth.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): So for me, it's creating space. To reconnect with what is true. Because what's so powerful is every single person knows the truth. walk into a room and know when someone's inauthentic pretty quickly. I mean, children develop this skill like right away. Just hard for parents trying to teach them things that they themselves don't follow. So I, I believe that we have so much inner knowing, and I've been blessed to have connection with it.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I have so much connection that. In fifth grade when I was on safety patrol and was given a trip to Washington DC 'cause I was the top safety patrol officer at my school. The minute I was physically there, everything in my being knew I would be there again. I thought I was gonna go to
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): college. I ended up not going to college there. But I founded a national nonprofit there and did all this amazing advocacy at the federal level in maybe. be there again. Come to that'd be 2027. Should I win this race? So there are things that we know and, and the people that can connect with it, that can clear enough space and noise, I think find pathways even in the oddest and weirdest circumstances.
Laura: Okay. I love that you brought up that there's this inner knowing, and I'm curious, so even in fifth grade you had this knowing and maybe your interpretation at the time was like, oh, maybe I'll go to college there. Can you walk us through, so from fifth grade and then you mentioned that you founded your nonprofit.
Laura: What are some other ways in which your knowing led you to things that you have done?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Well, the founding of the nonprofit story is wild. I mean, you can't make this stuff up. So when I was a survivor I had an idea for a nonprofit someday that I was gonna found, and I just like started brainstorming The name and Serve Justice came up, S-U-R-V-J-U-S-T-I-C-E. So play on Survivor and it was one
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): domain name, like put up a little page.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And I think this was something like. 2010. I, I wasn't doing anything at that moment. But little did I know that my story would go national that year as a survivor, national Public Radio, picked it up with the Center for Public Integrity, doing investigative series, exposing campus sexual violence, and it's mishandling. And then President Obama and his administration picked it up and they invited me to speak at the Department of Education. They invited me. To the executive buildings. They invited me to the White House and so I was able to have all this influence and I had just started law school. So as I was going through law school, I'm literally commuting between Baltimore, Maryland at the University of Maryland law to DC for meetings with all these officials.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I'm drafting and passing federal law. I'm serving on rulemaking committees, making regulation. I'm advising White House Task forces.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And as I'm graduating, law school friend texted me and said, did you see the White House website? I had no idea what he was talking about, so I kind of texted, no, what are you talking about? said, you need to go to not alone.gov right now. so what had happened is in those three years of law school, as I was advocating, I got really tired of every journalist saying, how should I attribute you? Should I say Laura Dunn rape victim. And that just made me feel gross over and over. Like I'm, I'm more than the victim, right?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Like so I use the name Serve Justice 'cause I bought the domain. And I was like, I'll just use it 'cause I don't wanna, I wanna be affiliated with something positive. And it got into national publications for those three years. And so the White House website published as a national resource the Nation serve justice and it didn't exist. So when I saw that, I was like, well, I
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): tell ' em it doesn't exist. And it's just like a domain name that I bought. 'cause I was tired of saying that I was a rape victim over and over. So I literally, that day. I was submitting my bar application to the state of Maryland so I could become a lawyer, and I drove from dropping that off into Delaware and incorporated my national nonprofit Serve Justice because the White House has decided it
Laura: Mm-hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I was on the fence about do I get a job because my family was pressuring me like, you're in such debt, work for a law firm, pay it off. And I was like, I don't know. This advocacy thing that has no money at all seems really amazing and I feel like I it. So the universe just gave me a giant shove and something very similar happened for me deciding to run for Congress.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): This was not the timing I desired. There were a lot of messages along the way saying You're gonna get something really big, and I was given a really big period of rest before Jerry Na announced his retirement and everything. In my being said, yes, this is for you to do.
Laura: Mm-hmm. Wow. So much to unpack there, Laura. And you know what's amazing is I can tell that I can hear it in your voice. I can see it like in your body language, that this is still such a meaningful time in your life, how this all came to be and how it's still coming to be. And I just wanna zoom into the moment because.
Laura: What I love about like, like why I started this podcast is because I wanna share people's stories in the hopes that there's a listener out there who sees themselves in their stories. And what I would love is, can you talk a little bit more, like, if we could zoom into the moment where even where you just started to make these choices that you didn't know where it was gonna lead, how did it feel?
Laura: Because now you can look back and be like, oh yeah, it totally makes sense. But at the time. When you were doing this, your family was pressuring you to find a job ' cause you're in debt and your heart it sounds like, was just like, I don't know, this advocacy that has no money makes so much sense. Walk us through, like, if I can zoom into your, your brain, your heart, what was happening and then what led you to just be like, you know what, I don't know where this is going.
Laura: I'm in so much debt and I'm gonna do it anyway.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Hmm, that's a good question. I think my courage has always been stronger than my fear. So I have
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): like everyone else. Like I have never been more terrified in my life than to run for Congress. And it's not because I'm on on a public stage and it's not because people will criticize me. It's because you don't get paid to run for Congress like I am losing money every single day that I do this.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And that's terrifying to me because I live in an expensive city. I've come a long way in my career and life to a position that I'm finally comfortable for like the first time at age 40, and then this crazy desire to save my nation and to fight
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): all the oppression I see came up and it's like. I have to put all my money on the line, and that's exactly what. It happened with this nonprofit. I had put all my money on the line. I paid for myself to commute into dc. There were so many things I was asked to do as a volunteer and I was unpaid, and I just said yes over and over and over, and it made me be able to be a national advocate overnight because I said yes so much. But it really cost me like personally and professionally and financially. And so there was definitely a learning point that I had to shift into, okay, I've said yes enough. Now how do I sustain? And that's kind of how I view it. You say yes and do as much as you can when you get going, and then at some point you have to realize, okay, I've reached a good point. Where's the sustainability in this? And that even happened in this campaign. My fear was causing me to have like. Panic attacks once a week. The first month that I filed, I had them very privately, but in my home I was like, am I insane? What am I doing? Can I pull this off? And then it just slowly shifted.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): So my best friends have reminded me is every time I've done something bold, I am terrified at the start. Absolutely terrified. There's never been a moment I'm like, this will be easy. Let me just change international law policy overnight. Like I've never had that thought and I don't even know always what I'm signing up for.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): It's just there's something in me that says this is a yes and.
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Feels like a calling. I mean, I really do still have faith. I do feel called that people have been given gifts and talents in this life that we are meant to use for good. And for me, I can feel it to pull on my heart. And so courage just trumps fear.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And I and I, sometimes I'm a little delusional. Even I think it took me two years into the nonprofit before it really hit me that I'd gambled my entire professional life. On an idea that had no financial support. And when it hit me, I was like, oh my gosh, that's insane. But it was two years. So like I'm glad some part of me didn't fully click into the insanity of it. that's even happening with this campaign. Like yes, sometimes I get that I am, you know, running for Congress, but it just feels natural to me. And there's gonna be a day that I'm on the debate stage standing next to a Kennedy being like, oh wow. Like really
Laura: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I just went through a whole slate of emotions listening to you because I'm already resonating with what you're saying. So like, for the listener out there who's like, I have, I can't relate. I'm not running for Congress. But you can, anybody who's ever felt a tug in their heart and a desire who's ever felt terrified, who's ever had to make a choice to say yes to their courage over their fear can relate.
Laura: To your story and, and what I love about this, Laura, is that you just come off as such a total badass, right? Like I read your intro and it's like, hot damn. And why I really wanted you on this podcast is because it's like, yes, you're a badass. And like the humanity aspect of it, of like, actually you're quite relatable.
Laura: And actually if Laura. Not this Laura, the other Laura. I can do all these amazing things while feeling terrified, while quote unquote, being delusional, choosing courage over fear, listening, saying yes over and over again. Listening to your heart that was tugging. Yes. Then anybody can do it. It, it's not like a, you happen to be special.
Laura: I love that you said there was never a time where you didn't feel terrified when you first started. I think that's absolutely relatable. And what I feel the listeners can take from this is you just say yes anyway. And I do wanna, you know, I've been playing around the idea of like, what is delusional anyway?
Laura: Because in the grand scheme of things, like is it really delusional? Like this is just where I, I'm at these days, Laura, where I'm kind of like, is it delusional? Because in the grand scheme of things, if you believe in like, you know, like the higher purpose, which, which I do and we've talked about. It's not delusional, you're just following it.
Laura: The only time you think it's delusional is when like your logic or the ego comes in and tells you it makes sense. But actually you were following the call and it made sense from like a heart perspective.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Yeah, no, I, I mean, done a lot of psychedelic work and they speak a lot about intuition. This like deeper knowing that's beyond logic and reason. For whatever reason, I, I was formed in this life, like fairly connected to that. I had an awareness and followed it a lot, and it's only gotten stronger with intentional practices, with executive coaches, psychedelic, healing, like all of that.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I've cultivated it. So that when you, when you have those experiences where you feel alignment is like another way of describing it where everything just clicks and you're like, aha, I see this door right in front of me and I'm gonna grab it and open it, even though I have no idea all that comes with opening this door. So yeah, there's just, there's something to it. And you're right. Maybe it's not delusion it's just not falling into the trap of the mind that's
Laura: Mm-hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): What you're doing. 'cause the mind screams at me all the time.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I mean, I'm two and a half months away from the end of my primary. And my mind still is like, are you sure?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And I'm like, it's too late. And, and that tricks that I do, I literally go so hard when I make a decision. I can't get afraid and back out. So when I heard that Jerry Nather was retiring, it was the day after I turned 40 and, and I had that fear slash excitement of I'm doing this. And unfortunately I found out later that day that my father was terminally ill, so I couldn't act on it right away.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I had to take a month with my family, but can't come October 1st. I filed with the FEC and I filed before I had a campaign plan, campaign team before I bluntly even knew what the district. looks like. 'cause the first time I pulled up the district and saw that it's pretty much all of Manhattan, I had a little like, ah, moment that it's much bigger than I thought and so many people. But I did it on purpose. I wanted to lock myself into this commitment. And that's how I've always done it. That's why I filed Serve Justice as a nonprofit. I'm like, I'm locked in. I have no. I have no business plan. I have no way to fund this, but I'm doing it. And so for me, that's my little trick. I, when I feel that, yes, I immediately make a big move. And then when my brain starts yelling at me, I'm like, aha, it's too late. Can't do. You've invested.
Laura: I, I love that.
Laura: Um, what I'm getting from that is that you take action before your mind can trap you.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Yes.
Laura: And for the listener out there who's like, whoa, I, that's too much. You can still take the action. Maybe it's not as big and brave as what Laura has done, but take the scary action.
Laura: And what it sounds like to me, just, just in listening to your story is that.
Laura: It kind of forces you into momentum. So however big that action is, however bold or like you get to define what that is, but you, you just did it. Um, and I wanna talk through like, uh, more recent events, right? Because you mentioned that even now your mind still talks to you and it's like, are you sure? So I'm imagining a listener is kind of like, what do you do?
Laura: Or even, I'm kinda like, what do you do when your mind is insisting? That this is the, the wrong move. So how do you stay true to what your calling has been telling you? Because you mentioned you were having panic attacks every week, so walk us through, like, how did you walk through that and stay centered and grounded and like, no, this is, this is the right thing for me.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Yeah. Good questions. So.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I, I guess I like create, like a construct when I have those voices, right, and that, that doubt. And so some part of me thinks of it almost like a trial and a tribulation, like a test from the universe of, do you really want this? I'm gonna make it easy for you to say no right now.
Laura: Oh.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): definitely been influx points where maybe we didn't get the endorsement we wanted, or a donor said they were gonna pledge money and then didn't.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Like, there's all these moments where you're kind of up and down emotionally, and we've had really big ones, the campaign, and when they happen, I, I take the time and I work through and recommit each and every time because, you need space. So I used to, I think when I started this work, I would override. everything that was happening in my being, and I was just like a machine. I was very non-human, superhuman work all night, not sleep. along the way, several messengers from the universe came who were like, Hey, you should maybe like sleep and take care of yourself. And you know, then your body starts acting in weird ways and you're like, what is this weird condition that no one can explain it's stress? So I, the difference between the work I started doing as a victim advocate and the work I'm doing now going into politics is I've learned a lot of lessons about honoring what is human in my body and the needs that I have. So if I'm having a panic attack . I, I don't view it as override push through.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I view it as, let's take some time. And what I've looked back and realized is not only was it a moment for me to recommit to this calling, but actually something really bad was happening in the campaign that I couldn't put my finger on. But my being was being like, you must address this. So occasionally I had to remove members of my team. And that was hard to conceptualize in the moment because it was a new project for me. I don't know. Everything I'm deferring to people I think are quote unquote experts.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): one lesson I wanna give the listeners of your podcast is, so many times in my life I've deferred to people 'cause I thought they were wiser than me, despite being someone
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): int tune with my intuition. And I have always regretted it
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Every single time I being is like, Hmm, this doesn't feel right. But someone was like, oh, I've done this a lot. It should be fine. It doesn't feel right to you. Don't do it. And if you're not paying attention to me, that was manifesting as panic attacks. I had the wrong team at the start.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): They wanted me to be someone different than I was. They wanted me to package myself differently. And thankfully, I quickly realized that it took like maybe a month, month and a half of being pretty miserable. But when I threw off that framework and found teams that are like, we like you for you, and we wanna promote what you already are, that freed me from those things.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): So there's wisdom when you're having these scary moments. It's not just recommitting, it's maybe something's actually wrong and you need to readjust your course a little bit.
Laura: Oh my God, that's so good. I love it. Take the time and recommit and see what the wisdom is in these hard moments. That is. Beautiful. Honoring what is human. There's like 10,000 quotes from, from our time together. Lord, this is amazing. What I'm curious about is because I have the privilege of actually knowing you, like I know you actually live this, and for the listeners who are not as connected as you are.
Laura: And, but they do connect to your story of, ah, yeah. Like I shouldn't have listened to, I'm thinking specifically of like people who go to the doctor because they assume the doctor knows better. Anything that has to do with like, advocating for yourself or maybe you're in school and like the professor, whatever.
Laura: So for the person who's relating to like, but, but wait, aren't they supposed to know better? Like, what are the signs, even in that moment that you talked about with your team that led you to believe, okay, maybe they, the people I hired were the quote unquote experts. But something is telling me something's off.
Laura: So like what was your experience and how did you know?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): For me, it shows up as a very particular sensation, almost like I'm not in my body anymore, like I'm losing myself. and I think it's fine something I definitely know from my not so healthy upbringing and religious community that was very spiritually abusive at times is when I defer to other authority, I did lose my inner sense of self and it kind of felt like. A wind could have blown me over, like there was no grounding
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And so when I kind of feel like I'm up in the air with no feet on the ground, I know I've deferred too much. And it, I hate the feeling like it drives, it literally creates a panic attack in my body. Like everything in my being is like not this.
Laura: Mm-hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): so I used, I'm now grateful that it's such a strong sensation. I can catch it earlier now in like. it so it doesn't get to that overwhelming state, but I had to learn that body wisdom that like was not knowledge I had until actively being in this campaign of, that's not you just being tired and stressed over.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): That was of course part of it. It's actually some deeper knowing that you haven't created enough space to listen to and translate into action in your life.
Laura: Mm-hmm. So, okay. So the first step it sounds like is you recognize the feeling. I love that you said body wisdom. I love that you said that because that's something that I learned late in life. Also, we tend to think of the mind as the wise thing, you know? Uh, okay. So first is recognizing the feeling and really leaning into that body wisdom.
Laura: So listener like whatever that feels like. For you. And then what did you do next when you recognized, okay, something is off. Did you immediately take action? Did you take time? Like, what, what did that look like?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Oh, I, I created a habit of taking warm baths at night and just being by myself with no distractions to process 'cause it both soothed my body prepared me for bed 'cause my insomnia went off the charts when I signed up to run for Congress. It's
Laura: Mm-hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): chart. it is just getting better. Some days I'm actually tired and fall asleep, but sometimes my mind is racing and that means I haven't created that container, that space that I need to work through everything. so yeah, I just created that space and process. Sometimes I would call friends and supports. You were definitely one of them I reached out to in the early days and I was like, I think I'm losing my mind. Like,
Laura: Mm-hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): me. And so it's good to have community but. I think community can help, like offer their nervous system, but they only, you really know when you're in the moment, like what is the right thing to do?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And I've had a lot of amazing advocates and advisors on my team, but no matter their wisdom, so many of them have been wrong for me because it campaign
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): is personal , how I show up matters. So when someone says, be more hopeful and be more positive. That may be some wisdom I can integrate in some ways, but we are in a horrible political time.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Like no one wants puppies and rainbows when they're losing their rights and their financial freedoms and seeing everything they hold dear dismantled. So I try to, this is what I actually tell people who ask if they should go to law school. 'cause all future lawyers are like, oh, should I go? And they ask. And lawyers always have strong opinions, yes, no, and all this stuff. And I say, you know what? Listen to everyone. Then decide what's right for you. So take all the little pieces
Laura: Hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): and like floating around, but then like your wisdom has to guide at the end of the day. 'cause no one knows, but you .
Laura: I love that. Okay.
Laura: I just wrote like a five step process based on what you, what you said. So one. Recognize that something's off. So this is the body wisdom. You don't have to make a choice yet. I noticed that when you were talking about it, you were just like, I'm out of my body. I don't like this feeling.
Laura: You didn't immediately go into, what is it, what do I do, et cetera. I love that. So listeners, it's, it's a process. So recognize the feeling, you know, tuning into the body wisdom. What I love that you did is like, before this even happened, it sounded like you'd already created. A ritual like you already created, like that container or that habit, whatever you wanna call it, to give yourself space to just exist.
Laura: So I love that. So that's the second step. Third step is reach out to community, you know, to regulate your nervous system a little bit. And then the fourth step is like what you just said, the advice you give to anyone going to law school is listen to your own wisdom, you decide. And then the fifth is to, to act from there.
Laura: So. There you go. Five step process from, from Laura on what to do when you're feeling off.
Laura: So I wanna talk a little bit more about your campaign and, and really give you a chance to talk about like, why now and why does this matter to you so much? Because it's, you mentioned that you're terrified, you're putting your finances on the line, you're like putting everything on the line.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Yeah, so there was like a few kind of things that few commitments I made. I told you my tricks. So when Trump first. One, I was with those groups that are trying to get more women into office, so I did, she should run Vote Run Lead Leaders in Educational Equity, which is for Teach for America alumni. And I did all these trainings being like, I may have to step up because I want to resist someone like this who braggs about sexually assaulting people who is openly racist, mocking the disabled, like these are a civil rights attorney. He's like everything I stand against. So I was preparing myself. And it wasn't the right time then.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): But I also transitioned outta my nonprofit and went into for-profit to hone my litigation skills to be tougher in the courtroom. And I actually sued the Trump administration as one of my last acts in my nonprofit before switching into for-profit to block him, undermining Title ix. And so I was preparing, and obviously then President Biden won and I was like, oh, maybe I don't need to be called and I can.
Laura: Mm-hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): some time. And I used those years to actually build my financial wealth for the first time in my life. I ended up selling national nonprofit after building it for four years. I'm sorry, my National for-profit organization, LL Dun Law Firm. And sold it and gave myself eight months off, which I had never had.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I've been working nonstop since the day I was assaulted, trying to advocate. So that's since age 18 to age 40. You can do the math there. And I needed that. My body got shingles like right at the start of my vacation 'cause it was holding so much, it just
Laura: Wow.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): like couldn't anymore. So I used that time I prepared and everything in me was like, something's gonna come. So you really need to rest. Then I saw Trump win, right? That happened during that period and I knew that I had to run. And the question was just which race is it here? Is it somewhere else? What level? And it always kind of looked at representative during Nadler's seat. 'cause I was living on the upper West side.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I'm very politically engaged. It's a very political neighborhood. And so I knew he'd retire eventually, and I thought I had time. Then he retired two years earlier than everyone said he was going to. And I was at that time at NYU Stern getting executive MBA, I had to leave that path. I had to pause that program and immediately shift everything into this.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And I took a month because like I mentioned, I was with family, with my father being terminally ill. And during that period I really was like, can I do this? I'm like, well, I have more money than I've ever had . It was, it's from suing rapists and perpetrators. Like what, what poetic justice to put that towards, against one for office. And I don't know when I'll have this kind of money again in my life. So that was like a good step towards it. And you know, I heard President Trump say, I'm gonna run for a third term and I'm gonna get rid of free and fair elections. And I believe him. I believe that he wants that. Will he do it? I don't know, but he wants to and he does a lot of the stuff he says.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): So kind of had a conversation with myself of, if you don't run now because you want more time, you wanna finish your degree, you want more money, you would like to, I don't know, get married, have kids, have a house. Like do the things normal do in their life. And I was like, will you regret it though if he takes over and there's no elections?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And the answer was yes. If I can do something to stop this moment, I want to do something to stop this moment. So I had to put myself in a very uncomfortable position of running before I was prepared, building a team on the fly. I've literally been making the airplane as it's in the air. It's never how you wanna do campaigns, by the way. fair before you've announced. but that's how I've always done everything. So some part of me is like, you're ready for this moment. In it and I wanna do it for our nation. I love our democracy. I love our rights and freedoms. We have been the envy of the world because of what we've done, and it was still an imperfect union and a civil rights attorney. I saw the infections, but we were closer than anyone else. So I wanna get us back there and I wanna close us ahead, and I think that's possible for leadership of mine .
Laura: Mm. Oh my God. Laura, you are so inspiring. You're so inspiring. You put aside comfort, safety, rest because you believe so strongly in, having the kind of leadership that you can provide and.
Laura: For anyone who's listening, who is just feeling so inspired, who wanna support you, who wanna learn more from you, how can they follow you, connect with you
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): is a great time to get involved 'cause the primary is June 23rd, so there's only two and a half months left. There is a volunteer tab on our website. Please sign up. You get to door knock with me. You get to go to dog parks and hand out scars and pins and information about me and get to go to events and support a candidate actively working for the people.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): So volunteering is definitely one donations. Everyone's tired right now. I get so many text messages from the Democratic Party right now, every single day asking for money. I totally feel people on that. I never gave that much to campaigns. I give 25 here, 25 there. Now that I'm running it and know how absolutely mind boggling it is to raise millions overnight a short-term project.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I have started giving hundreds to
Laura: Mm-hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): So whatever you can give, we need the money. It gives us the material to hand out. When we Do the outreach, it makes sure that we have a team member tracking the grid that we're walking. So we hit every New Yorker gives us advertisements in newspapers if. You want new leadership, you gotta put your money behind it.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): I do wanna reform money and politics, but until someone like me gets in, we're stuck with a very moneyed system. And last but not least doing what people like you just did, Laura, like the platforms that you have, have a following and you wanna tag me, do a video together, get out the word. I can win with 35,000 votes, which is an insanely low win number for Regressional race.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Normally it's 150,000. I only need 35,000. The reason it's so low is so many white men are in this space and they're all pulling on the same pool, and they're all fighting each other, and I'm the only leading woman, and I'm the only one with the civil rights background. I'm the only Latina. I'm the only person who's queer.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Like I have all these identities that none of them represent, and so I'm pulling on my communities that I am part of, that I represent, that I fight for . So if you're a part of those communities, you have a platform. Even if you're just an industry leader today, a bunch of crypto industry leaders endorse my crypto stance that are pushing it out to their community.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): So everyone has a way that they can support me, and I just wanna encourage, even if it's not me, if you're like listening and you're like, I'm in California, it's too far away, find your local leader, or is it you? And don't be afraid. Then if it is
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): you.
Laura: hmm.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Find these organizations get involved or you yourself step up and run.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Just plan a little bit ahead. That's my one tip to.
Laura: I love it. Laura, thank you so much for making time to be here. I know you've got a really busy schedule.
Laura: I have one last question that I ask all of my listeners, and that is if you were an item in a coffee shop, anything, you could be a drink, a pastry, you can be the cashier, coffee grinder, whatever it is, what would you be and why?
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): For some reason pumpkin loaf is coming to my head. That's because I eat it all the time. I feel like it's good for your stomach. Brings you kind of grounding. That's I think, why I eat it. And for me, food is always about like finding my happy spots, you know, my little comfort and joy for the moment. So one of the challenges I gave myself in this race, I already had the badass. The fighter or the lawyer, I've challenged myself to have the joy, the love, it's a weird thing to call in, I think, in politics, but it's also exactly what's missing in politics. So I wanna be the thing that also makes you feel good, that gives you hope, that makes you feel grounded and like everything's gonna be okay.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): And for some reason, pumpkin Loaf says that to me.
Laura: I love it. Thank you so much, Laura, for making the time again to be here.
Laura Dunn (NY-12 Candidate): Yes. Thank you for the pleasure of being on.
Speaker 4: Big thanks again to Laura Dunn for sharing her story so openly. These conversations are such a reminder that no pivot is too messy, too late, or too unconventional. If something she said resonated, don't keep it to yourself. Share this episode with someone you know who needs it, and when you are ready to start your own pivot.
Speaker 4: Head to www.leadintag.com for free resources or book a free 20 minute call with me. I'm here for you.