>> Hannah Powers: My name is Hannah Powers
and I am a lobbyist, sort of another way
of saying it is being a government
relations consultant.
And my duties as a lobbyist are to work with
our clients who need help with the government
and it could be anything from passing a bill
to trying to defeat a bill that would be bad
for our client or helping the client
just sort of feel closer to government,
so that they can have entrees
if they need to have a meeting
with somebody in state or local government.
>> And can you tell us a
little bit about your story?
How did you get into this career field?
>> Hannah Powers: Before I
became a lobbyist I worked
for the Senate President across the State House.
Just across the street is the Maryland State
Capital where they make the laws and I worked
for the Senate President for five and a half
years and assisted him on his legislative agenda
and promoting what he wanted
to do the Senate of Maryland.
I love my job because it is really challenging
and really fun, but it also is really social.
Like part of what I have to do is go meet people
and have you know a cup of coffee with them
and sort of explain my client's
perspective or point of view.
The challenges are definitely the long
hours during the legislative session,
sometimes I get to work at 8:00 and I won't
leave until 11:00, but it's really worth it
because it's a high energy job and I like that.
>> What does it take to be successful?
>> Hannah Powers: I think you
have to have, to be a lobbyist
and to be successful I think you
have to have a lot of energy.
You need to know how government works
and I think you need to know people
within government and have good relationships.
>> How could someone prepare themselves
for a career field like yours?
>> Hannah Powers: I think initially its--
it doesn't hurt to get involved in politics
because politics is sort of the whole trigger to
our government and I would say if you are young
and looking to get involved in lobbying, you
should start maybe interning for a congressman
or a senator or a delegate to get an idea
or an understanding of how government works.
>> What are your hours like, time in the office,
out of the office, do you work from home?
>> Hannah Powers: I can work
from home sometimes,
but most of the time we have meetings right
here in our office and the clients like to be
in the office and sort of work with you.
So, even though we're allowed to have
conference calls a lot of the time,
most of our work is done in our office.
>> Do you get to travel a lot?
>> Hannah Powers: Occasionally we travel.
I went to the democratic convention
in Denver, Colorado for work last year
and I assisted our clients who were out there.
And we go to conferences in Ocean City a couple
times a year, but for the most part we stay
around Annapolis or we have meetings sometimes
in Baltimore or other parts of the state.
>> Any final advice for someone who would
like to enter a career field like yours?
>> Hannah Powers: I would say get involved
really early and stay politically active
and work hard for what you truly believe
in and stay, maintain a lot of integrity
and I think honesty is the best policy
when it comes to a job in politics.