Job as homeschool mom leads to job in Congress

Position: Communications director to Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas

Age: 42

Alma Mater: University of Houston-Clear Lake

—-

Washington Examiner: How did you become politically active?

Teehan: I’m a homeschool mom. I started paying attention to what the rules were for homeschooling, and Alabama was where I lived back then. I became involved with a group of moms who supported each other. When it came time for election season, they were sending out information where they had written or emailed or called officials about parental rights involving their right to homeschool.

Someone made the point that Democrats didn’t respond, Republicans mostly did, and the couple of independents all responded.

That got me thinking about how politics impacted my ability to educate my children, and that was when I started looking at the different parties and beliefs.

Examiner: What was the first presidential campaign you worked on?

Teehan: Dr. Ron Paul’s in 2008. He had been my congressman growing up in Texas, so he was one I was very familiar with, and I had relatives who had worked for him. I was a conservative, so he fit the bill for who I wanted as president.

Examiner: After that, you worked as communications director for the Alabama Republican Party, and as a press secretary for Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas. How did you meet Rep. Hurd?

Teehan: I had been watching his campaign, and thought he was fascinating as a former CIA officer and cybersecurity expert. I knew that in Washington, he’d have a large impact. I found out who his chief of staff was, and realized from his background that we probably had a friend in common. So I asked for an introduction, and a couple of hours later I had an email from the chief requesting an interview.

I happened to be heading to San Antonio for Christmas break, where Rep. Hurd is from, and after my conversation with the chief, he thought I should have a conversation with him. I did that, and he was as fascinating as I thought he would be. He won me over when he said he didn’t want to be a typical congressman, but he wanted to find solutions and help people and have the gold standard in constituent service.

Examiner: What have been the challenges and what have you learned?

Teehan: For the first few months as communications director, it was just me for the most part. We were still trying to figure out the dynamic and the needs, the most important part of which was meeting the needs of the constituents. So that was where we focused our hiring.

We figured out at one point that the legislative correspondent could also help with press, so she started helping with writing first drafts and things like that. Eventually we had a press assistant who focused on Hispanic media, which was part of meeting the needs of our district, where 70 percent of our constituents are Hispanic.

I’m definitely a type-A personality, so I had to learn to give up some control and start delegating more responsibility. That’s one weakness I definitely have. I think I’m getting a lot better, and I’ve found my own work-life balance is much better because of it. I can go home and not worry about looking at Facebook or Instagram.

Examiner: What are your hobbies?

Teehan: I love to read. Because I have so little time, between working full time and having four kids, I listen to a lot of audio books. I like anything by C.S. Lewis, he’s my favorite fiction and nonfiction author. I’ve read the Game of Thrones books. I’m not sure how I feel about those now that the television show is ahead of them.

I’m also listening to Duty by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates. He has an inside perspective of what was going on in politics at a time when I was on the outside, and he has an inside perspective of what it was like to work for both a Republican and a Democratic president.

Examiner: What are you going to do when you quit working in Congress?

Teehan: Move back to Texas. I do like working on the Hill, there’s a lot of energy, and I feel like I’m helping to have an impact.