opinion

The strength of Andrew Yang's message is seen in campaign's growth from a humble start

In January 2019, Andrew Yang — whose name recognition was yet nil — personally invited me to attend a small campaign event to discuss my recently published op-ed in the Des Moines Register.

It was during this event that the seeds were sown for my soon-to-be-founded, and now quickly growing, social enterprise “Iowa love”.

During his stump speech, Andrew spoke in depth of his theme of “Humanity First” — the idea that our economy ought to prioritize our common goals and values, not simply financial gains. For example, he points out that while current policies support a record-setting stock market, for some reason, we are also seeing an all-time-high number of drug overdoses, suicides, divorces, and other events that we wouldn’t expect during prosperous times.

After the event, he shared with me that his jaunt would continue, traveling the next several days across Iowa stopping at small venues sharing the same message — one to two dozen people at a time.

That really struck me.

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Here was this no-name out-of-stater running a completely underfunded presidential campaign, traveling by car across Iowa (in the winter!) sharing his message of “Humanity First.” It’d be easy to think that he was nuts. With my experience living "in the future" in Silicon Valley and Beijing, I knew that he was like a prophet sharing this critical message that others weren’t yet talking about.

I’d follow Andrew in the press, however seldom the articles, and catch up with him at events in several towns across northeast Iowa. By March, in part by feeling the tremendous work ethic of his campaign and his focus on “Humanity First”, I was compelled to publicly introduce a campaign of mine own. Not one politically focused, but a social enterprise selling T-Shirts featuring my “Iowa love” symbol. And, I would donate the first month’s proceeds to flood recovery efforts along the Missouri River.

As Andrew’s campaign was gaining steam and national recognition, our "campaign" hit the road as well. I began traveling across Iowa, introducing our social enterprise and wares to locally owned main street retailers in communities small and large. By the time Andrew qualified for the third national debate, “Iowa love” had formed retail partnerships in more than 40 communities and donated more than $5,000 to nonprofits and causes.

At a recent campaign event, wearing a black and gold “Iowa love” hoodie, I told him how proud I was of his success. I also introduced to him “Iowa love” and shared how we similarly quickly grew from merely an idea to a fairly recognized brand and community across Iowa.

He smiled, faintly sighed while shaking his head,

“Brother, we have like the same soul!”

Though “Iowa love” is proudly a social enterprise for all Iowans of all political persuasions and without an affiliation of its own, if you choose to participate in the caucuses on Feb. 3, I do encourage you to think about that — Andrew Yang’s soul just may be akin to "Iowa love."

William James Heathershaw is the creator of “Iowa love” T-Shirts, (iowalove.org), a locally grown brand and social enterprise supporting Iowa businesses, artisans, and nonprofits.