Pocket profile: Amber Talley

Washington Examiner: What brought you to Capitol Hill?

Talley: For almost my whole life I wanted to be a doctor. I got into medical school early, even before I graduated high school. I went to college and spent three-and-half years doing chemistry. My father died when I was 17 and, while I had always wanted to do medicine to help people, everything changed for me when my father passed away. It was out of the blue, and I was young, he was young, so it affected me profoundly.

It took some time, but it made me realize, for one thing, that I didn’t want to be a doctor. I realized that what I really wanted was to do the most good for the most people that I could, and I knew I couldn’t do that helping one patient at a time. Once I figured out that’s what I wanted, I ended up becoming very interested in law.

When I finished undergrad I was working for a small technology company. The president of the company was an attorney, and I’m grateful he took me under his wing. I became much more interested in business and producing things, and I specifically became interested in contracts. That led me to law school. I applied at the last minute, got in, and fell in love with it.

I turned down a job with a firm in my last year of law school. Instead, I came to Washington, and I got a Master of Law degree in law and government, with [a Master of Public Policy] at the same time. I wanted to help make things better. I’m a conservative, so I don’t look to the government to solve all my problems, but I also don’t expect the government to create problems. While working on those degrees, I started working in state and local tax at the Multistate Tax Commission. After I graduated, I went to PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

My plan was to stay there for a few years and then maybe make my way over to the Hill or to an agency. I wanted to be the person behind the person, give advice and counsel and use my education to help policy-makers. I ended up meeting Rep. Darrell Issa, and about a year and a half later, someone from the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform contacted me because there was a position open. They asked me if I wanted to come interview for it. It didn’t fit with the plan, but you can’t say no to an opportunity like that.

Examiner: How did you get from there to Rep. Chaffetz’s office?

Talley: When it came out that Rep. Chaffetz was going to become chairman of the Oversight Committee, I was a little aggressive. I had an offer to go back to PwC and the committee was changing leadership. I reached out to the congressman’s chief of staff and let them know that I didn’t want to leave the committee, but that I did have another offer. I needed to know if I should accept it. Instead, the committee asked me to stay. That December, I saw a piece in one of the morning clips about a tiny sales tax bill that Rep. Chaffetz was working on, and I reached out to the chief of staff to let him know if they needed any help or had any questions, I’d be happy to help.

That was the work I did at PWC and I had done a lot of corporate advising and tax returns. By late January, there were some changes in his personal office, and I was offered a position as his legislative director. I was conflicted, obviously, and you don’t usually make the move from a committee to a personal office, or so I understood it. But it was such an incredible opportunity, and I couldn’t say no to it.

Examiner: Of what work are you most proud?

Talley: Every day is something different, but I’m most proud of having a seat at the table. Whatever the policy issue is, whatever the oversight issue, I’m incredibly proud to say that I can give information, advice and counsel to my boss. I can’t believe that I can talk to the chairman of the Oversight Committee, that I’m able to have my voice heard by him. Even if we disagree, or if others disagree with me, he still listens. That’s the thing I’m most proud of.

Examiner: What do you do in your spare or free time?

Talley: I hate running, but I do it anyway. When I have time, I run. I smoke cigars by the lake with my wonderful and amazingly patient husband late at night. We’re lucky enough to live on a lake, and my husband is a cigar lobbyist. We love the peace and quiet, which is a big contrast to our work days. I spend a lot of time taking care of my father-in-law, who lives with us. I go to church, and try desperately to see my friends and family. I’m also active with Junior League.