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Mulroney also co-founded the Shoebox Project in 2011, a non-profit that collects and distributes gifts to women who are homeless or at risk.

It wasn't her plan to seek the leadership, she was very, very focused on the riding and on the community and that's where her efforts went

Prior to announcing her political plans, Mulroney served as vice-president of Toronto-based BloombergSen Investment Partners, and used to work at a venture debt fund.

“It wasn’t her plan to seek the leadership, she was very, very focused on the riding and on the community and that’s where her efforts went,” said Peter Van Loan, a legislator with the federal Conservative Party who acted as an adviser to Mulroney.

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Though new to politics, Mulroney has shown herself to be hardworking and genuine, which has won her support in the community — even among those who may judge her based on the family name, Van Loan said.

“She has intrinsic strengths and intrinsic talents of her own, whatever her name may be,” he said.

“When you talk about that kind of name, that’s sort of the impression people have before they meet her and then when they meet her, talk to her, the response you get is, ‘Wow she is so relatable, she understands me, she gets me, she listens to me, she obviously genuinely cares,”‘ he said.

Mulroney’s lack of political experience will likely be her biggest challenge, particularly when measured against more seasoned candidates, said Kathy Brock, a policy expert and political science professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.

But it could also play in her favour, bringing some freshness to the Tories at a time where their interim leader has vowed to clear out the “rot” from the party, Brock said.