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Stick-to-it-ness. That’s the word that Erin Brockovich loves to use in her advocacy. She has done this for over 22 years and is still a champion for clean water.
I met Erin at a women’s conference after setting the intention of getting her to endorse my advocacy around workplace bullying. Someone I knew was videotaping me talking to Erin at the time. Fast forward—she agreed to support my work, and I interviewed her on my Podcast, “The Empowered Whistleblower.”
What is mind-blowing is that many solutions to problems are so manageable. For example, she shared how people are coming together and become proactive, changing laws, initiating clean-up, running for elections, and more. In this interview, Erin explains that we all know wrong from right and we can save ourselves and that Superman or Superwoman is not coming to save us.
Her mother taught her the word, stick-to-it-ness. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the words as a noun, which means dogged perseverance. Erin says that you don’t have to be born with stick-to-it-ness, it can be learned.
During my interview, I mentioned to Erin that she recently addressed water conditions in my local area. There has been an issue of coal ash in our water in the western NC region. People do speak up about wrongful issues, and they are often called a “whistleblower.” Erin further states whistleblowing became a bad name, but when did it become wrong, to tell the truth!
She further discusses how two women wanted to change the water in their community of Hannibal, MO. The city may sound familiar—Author Mark Twain was born in Hannibal. The book, “Huckleberry Finn” became world-famous. Erin Brockovich was brought in to Hannibal to educate the community on why there was lead in their water system. The lead in their water was higher than some of the lead levels in Flint, Michigan’s water.
The two women ran for their city council and won in Hannibal! Positive change can happen—in the community. They immediately set out to change how their water was regulated—no more ammonia was allowed in the water. Clean water that was free of lead became the result of these two stick-to-it-ness women. All of us can make simple changes, which positively impact everyone.
My takeaway from this interview is that people can make a difference by taking action.
When you see something that needs changing, especially for the benefit of humanity—jump in and make a positive difference. We can all fall into the trap of thinking we are suppressed and have no power to change things. The fact that we think we are powerless is a story we tell ourselves—get out there and start improving the world by engaging in activities that lead to change. If advocacy is not your thing, then support an advocate by sharing their articles, podcasts, and more.
Anne Frank journaled it best, “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
She was a Jewish girl in hiding during the Second World War, involving the Holocaust. Anne kept a diary while in hiding at Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. Many people widely recognize Anne Frank’s inspiration and her diary which has been published in 67 countries and encouraging people around the world.
You can listen to my interview with Erin Brockovich.
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Photo by Ricardo Mancía on Unsplash
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