Today’s Guest: Billie Greer
Hello Enthusiasts –
Well, once again, I skipped a week. Forgive me. But it’s fun to see the downloads tick up – hopefully you all are getting the hang of what we’re trying to do here.
This week’s guest is sort of a “point of personal privilege.” Billie is a Los Angeles treasure and has been such a long time friend, mentor, and general source of good cheer that when she expressed interest in being part of this little vanity project, I jumped at the chance to have her on.
The word “pioneer” is thrown around too easily, but Billie, like Sue Laris who we already heard from (and who Billie connected me with), truly fits the bill. She’s of the generation where women’s career options were, essentially, as she puts it “teachers, teachers, or nurses” and, indeed, that’s exactly how Billie started out – as a teacher.
But Billie is nothing if not intrepid. Through her volunteer activities, at the age of 38, she learned about Coro, the famed leadership training program … which almost exclusively enrolls young adults right out of college. No matter. She enrolled, “convinced them all that she wasn’t their mother”, and, of course, excelled.
She eventually worked for a campaign firm and started her career in LA politics. And, when she started lobbying City Hall, there was one female lobbyist besides her. One. No matter. One day, while sitting at a Palmdale Planning Commission hearing at around midnight, she looked over at her (female) colleague and said “we should start our own firm”. So, they did.
And, of course, Greer Dailey became one of the most successful public affairs firms in city. After building that up and considering whether to retire, and as a sign of the respect she had garnered, she, a lifelong Democrat, was then recruited to run the Los Angeles office for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She tried to retire again, but was recruited by two former Governors to run the Southern California Leadership Council, which you’ll hear more about.
But beyond all that, Billie is simply fascinating and personable. You’ll hear about her journey. You’ll hear about how she ended up riding into her 75th birthday party on a Harley Davidson (for context, I don’t know for sure, but Billie is barely over 5 feet tall and not even 100 pounds). You’ll hear why she feels like an “80 year old millennial”, living in Downtown LA.
You may or may not know Billie, but I hope I’ve convinced you by now that the guests on this podcast always bring interesting stories, and Billie is certainly no exception. Take a listen.
As always, you can listen right on this website, or subscribe on Apple podcasts here (which I prefer).