Running for public office can be stressful. Not only do you have to worry about raising funds for the campaign, developing a platform, and mobilizing voter support, if you are a woman, research shows that you also need to care more about the impact of your campaign. style and your public appearance than a male candidate. strength.
To help ease the financial burden of purchasing new clothes, MM LaFleur Founder and CEO Sarah LaFleur lends clothes from her business. to any woman candidate for a public office. This includes, she says, women running for a local position like city council or women running for a more national role, such as the House of Representatives.
LaFleur announced the initiative in a letter sent to clients on President’s Day. In the letter, she wrote that after the 2016 presidential election, the company asked customers how they could better support women, regardless of their political party.
LaFleur says he received more than 1,000 responses within 48 hours. “It was amazing to hear from all sides of the spectrum,” she told CNBC Make It. “From a Muslim woman in Texas saying she was afraid for her life to a Boston doctoral scientist who voted for Trump saying,” I need you to understand why this was important to me. “
“It created such an interesting speech,” says LaFleur, “but the theme that kept coming up was that we just had to support more women who want to get into politics.”
Women hold 23.2% of the seats in the House of Representatives and 25% of the seats in the Senate, according to the nonprofit Catalyst. While free clothing isn’t the only way to boost those numbers, LaFleur says she hopes it will take the sartorial stress many women face when running for office.
“I want these women to feel like they can focus on getting their message across – and the clothes are the part that is taken care of,” she says. “If we can bring some kind of comfort there, then there’s nothing that gives me more satisfaction.”
So far, LaFleur and her team have already received praise from many women in office who know firsthand how important wardrobe and appearance are to their work. In a post to her Instagram story, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY Democrat) thanked the company for launching the initiative, writing, “When I was showing up (even now), accessing clothing for the job was a big deal, both a logistical and a financial challenge As a candidate, a lot of asking people to vote for you helps them visualize you on the job.
To learn more about how you can benefit from the new MM LaFleur program, you can send your name, location and description of the office for which you are presenting to readytorun@mmlafleur.com.
“We never claim that clothing helps move the needle on female representation,” LaFleur said in her letter to clients, “but we do want to do our part to make things a little easier.”
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