One-on-one with Erika Donalds

Alright folks, welcome to Fox Tampa Bay Live. This is a special edition of Fox Tampa Bay Live. We're just kind of flying by the seat of our pants today. You have been watching Battleground Midterms on Fox Local, but we are interrupting that to talk more about the midterms. And you may recognize the person sitting to my left and your right. This is Erica Donalds, the potential next First Lady of the state of Florida. It is our pleasure and honor to have you here. Of course, the wife of Byron Donalds. So we're going to do an interview. We had an interview scheduled. for one o'clock and we figured let's just do it live on the stream why not welcome thank you thanks for having me thank you good to be in my hometown that's true that's true thank you for coming in we appreciate it um all right if i had told you when you graduated school back in the early 2000s that you would be sitting here as the potential First Lady of the state of Florida and that Byron would be a stone's throw from being elected the next governor uh how would you have reacted back then? I definitely wouldn't have believed you. I tell people, you could have offered me a million dollar bet and I would have taken it. And then I'd be out. I'd be underwater. But yeah, no, I would have bet you a million dollars that that wouldn't have happened. We just, we weren't involved in politics. We weren't in the college Republicans or in student government. We always thought those people were a little weird because they were working really hard for no money. And Byron and I both worked full time. You were working hard also for no money, apparently, right? you know, we, these days, but, but then, you know, we worked our way through school. We were very focused on our potential careers. You know, he was a finance major. I was an accounting major and we were just focused on getting into the world and getting out of debt and, you know, getting out of the trajectory that we were on from, you know, coming from single moms and backgrounds where we didn't have money. How much debt were you in? Byron had more student debt than I did because he came from out of state. So I think when we graduated, he had like maybe $30,000 in debt and I had maybe $5,000 or something like that. But in those days, that was a lot. I mean, I graduated in 2005 with $22,000. What were your ambitions when you were young adults? Did you say one day we're going to be this or X, Y, or Z, or we're going to be in politics or we're going to be in sports or you were an accounting expert and major? I think we both had aspirations to be in executive leadership in our field, we both ended up going into finance, banking, like that arena. And that's the trajectory we both went on. For me, I chose accounting because I didn't want to be poor. And I knew that if I had an accounting degree, I could get a CPA, I could go to law school. I had different options available to me. So I ended up going back and getting my CPA, getting my master's. But at the time when we graduated undergrad, we just didn't really want to go back to school. We actually took the LSAT together thinking we might go to law school, but we decided not to. How did you do on them? How did you both do on them? I did okay. I actually was sick that day and I was like, you know what, maybe it's just not meant to be right now. And evidently it wasn't. So. Was it that conscious for you? I don't want to be poor. Was it that literally, I don't want to wind up like my parents. It was my, and my mom specifically, because my father really wasn't in my life a lot during my teenage years after my parents got divorced. And my mom worked multiple jobs and she had to depend on her parents a lot. Financially, when I was in college, I was pretty much on my own, had to pay my own bills. So I worked full-time during college. And so, yeah, I didn't want to live like that for the rest of my life. I didn't want, if I did end up having children, didn't want the same situation to happen to me that if I were no longer married to their father, that I would be destitute. Those were all things that my upbringing informed my choices. Do you remember Byron saying similar things to you? I remember when I first met Byron, he had just transferred to Florida State recently that year and kind of got himself on track. He's kind of told that story. And so he wasn't a marketing major. And when we met, he decided to add finance and he ended up doing both majors. And that thought process was, well, marketing majors don't make enough money. So I need something that's actually going to pay off and so he added finance and yeah that was definitely part of it is like we we wanted to change our ability to make money in the future and not have to be a statistic which is something his mom really ingrained in him not to be a statistic in multiple ways like crime and you know your education and things like that so yeah that was definitely part of the decision making process now he could be one of 50 governors in the in the country um do you remember at what point political seedlings start to be planted? At what point does a political transformation start to take place? And was one of you going before the other in developing these seedlings? Yeah, actually very vividly, because at the time I was in finance and very affected by Sarbanes-Oxley, which was a major compliance law passed at the federal level. He was in banking, similarly affected by Dodd-Frank at the same time sharing our frustrations at home with what we were dealing with in our careers at work when the Tea Party movement came along. So you're talking about 2010 or so? Ish, yes. And he had been arguing with people online, people from our childhood and our college days about Obama. Were you Obama fans? No. No, you hadn't voted for him. I'd always been a Republican because my family was Republican, but he was always Democrat because his family was Democrat. But when Obama was running... Byron did not support him because he didn't agree with his policies, and that was very unpopular with especially his Black friends from school and his family members. And he would argue with them on Facebook, and these debates are still out there, long arguments on Facebook about it. So that was before the Tea Party stuff, but we were watching CNBC when Rick Santorelli made his rant that kind of launched the Tea Party movement. We used to watch CNBC in the mornings because you know, we're finance people and I had it on all day in my office. And when the Naples Tea Party launched and they were doing rallies, we both kind of separately, but then together decided to go to one of these rallies that was at lunchtime. And we each went on our lunch breaks to the Tea Party rally. He eventually submitted a video of him speaking at a Toastmasters club and then was invited to speak on the back of a pickup truck at one of the Naples Tea Party rallies. That's kind of what kicked off our involvement in politics. Explain what happened in your son's school that made you say, there needs to be a different solution. What I'm getting right now is not going to work for my family. Yeah. That was a progression over about a year and change because my son's entire kindergarten year was a disaster. And this is our second son. So we exercised choice like most families do. We bought a house in the area where we wanted our kids to go to school. By then we were middle management. We were entering the middle class and able to choose where we want to live. Our kids were entering school age. And I was very deliberate about buying a house where I wanted my kids to go to that school. My oldest son went in. He did fine and seemingly successful. But our second son went in and was absolutely miserable. He hated going to school. He would cry. He would beg not to go. And as a mom, that's so heartbreaking. I would meet with the teacher, meet with the principal, meet with the counselors. And ultimately, after many, many meetings over the course of that year, their solution was to put him on medication. And if I didn't agree to do that, they wanted to put him in a special classroom and not in the school where I chose. They wanted to put him on a bus every day and send him across town to a special classroom, which side note, when people are like, oh, public schools have to serve all kids. Well, not all public schools, because they wanted to send my child across town, not to a school that I chose. And they wanted to give him ADHD medication or something? Yeah, pretty much. I mean, he was bored and they wanted to stick him on a computer and that wasn't enough for him. So I pulled him out. We didn't have charter schools. The private schools I knew of were expensive and I didn't have money for them, but I did find a small classical Christian school. It was in a church. It was a very small school, combined classrooms like K1, one, two, like that. And I put the tuition on our credit card. And the day I dropped him off and picked him up the first day at that school was the middle of first grade for him. He was a different kid. He loved going to that school. He couldn't wait to tell me everything he was learning, jumped in the car with the biggest smiles, telling all of our neighbors how much he loved his school. Yeah. A relief is like not, you can't even describe it. It would completely changed our lives as a family because it was consuming so much of my emotional energy and time and solving that problem for me and my son just it made our lives so much better I thought how many other families are dealing with this and how do I help them you wound up running and winning a seat on the Collier County School Board I'm curious about your time on there on the board and how that time being in the system is going to inform your time if Byron were to win how it's going to inform your time as first lady when it comes to either advising your husband or lobbying lobbying around the state for changes you want to see made? Being on the school board was very frustrating. I had been, by that time, very successful in my career. I was a partner in my firm on the management team. And I had done that by identifying problems, doing research, presenting solutions, best practices, and then implementing those solutions and seeing change. So when I got on the school board and I practiced that same method, that same formula, here's the problem. Here are some potential solutions. Here's the research that I've done where it's worked elsewhere. Here's how we can implement and what it will cost. My fellow school board members didn't even read my proposals. They wouldn't let me put things on the agenda. There was so much cover-up happening where my summation of that is that they care more about how things look than how things are. And the problem was so much bigger than I initially even thought getting onto the school board that it's truly a systemic problem with a monopolistic system that's so bureaucratic, that's so resistant to reform and change that I concluded that I wasn't going to run again. And instead, I was going to create competition because I felt like that the only thing that that is going to reform the system is accountability through free market competition and parents being able to vote with their feet. You wound up setting up four or five schools, depending on how you count them. One of them is now virtual, but they became an issue in the campaign. You certainly know that very well. One of your opponents in the Republican primary basically said, well, not basically, he did say a taxpayer-funded charter school brought in $5 million. They paid $4.4 million to Byron Donald's wife's company and finished the year in the red. Now Byron wants to run for Florida, wants to run Florida's education system. How do you respond to that? And do you have any regrets about the way you filed the paperwork and filled out the paperwork? Yeah, absolutely not. All of the schools that I've opened are thriving. They're serving families. About 8,000 students are in the schools that I started or co-founded over the past 10 years, 12 years, I suppose now. And so to me, that's a success. Anybody who started a business knows that it doesn't all go according to plan, but the ultimate goal is that you're serving your customers well and you're a going concern and you're successful. And we were successful in launching all of those schools. So I have no regrets whatsoever. All of the families that are being served by those schools are very happy that they exist and they have those options. And these people who are making these criticisms have never done anything of that significance and how hard it is to get a school started, especially during COVID. which a lot of my schools were actually started during the COVID period. And you had to manage all of the changing laws and being home and all the additional rules and compliance. So I'm really proud of my track record and the schools that I successfully opened that are successfully operating today, despite whatever people say. And yeah, I have no regrets at all. If you were to become Florida's first lady, how much do you view the role that you would have as being a platform to further advance charter schools and the school system that you believe in? I would like our education system to be focused on students, not on charter schools or private schools or public schools, but on each individual child and what do they need to succeed to be able to read and do math and write proficiently and have a pathway to the American dream or the Florida dream as Byron has called it on the trail. and how to do that is a myriad of solutions that we have already begun to implement in Florida and I've advocated for the entire 15 years or so that I've been involved in any education policy I'll have a bigger platform from which to advocate for those same policies that I've been pushing for in Florida and across the country and I'm very grateful for that opportunity but it doesn't change who I am and what I've been doing it just gives me thankfully I mean hopefully in 20 days, a bigger microphone from which to do it. Can parents who are happy with the public school system, who say this public school that I go to is great, the neighborhood is great, the school's great, the teacher's great, the teachers are great, the teachers care, can they be confident that those schools will continue to have the resources that they have come to depend on? Yeah, I think all schools need to be well-resourced. I think every parent should have the choice of where the school that is going to serve their children best and that that school that the parent chooses, whether it's a public school, a charter school, a private school, that it is resourced enough to meet the needs of that child. I believe that competition is the best way to make that happen for the most number of children, including the public schools. And we've seen evidence of that where choice exists. The students in the public schools in those geographic areas actually perform better than their demographically equivalent counterparts in areas that don't have choice. Are you relishing the opportunity to be coming of Florida's first lady? You know, obviously you just mentioned the Obamas. Michelle Obama has been very clear over the years. This was not necessarily something I would have chosen for our family. Were you worried about going into this? Was Byron worried about exposing you and the kids to this life? Is this something you're taking head on or are you a bit reluctant to do this? Well, let me start with Byron, because he definitely took that into consideration, the sacrifice that his family has to make for him to do this. And we pray, we're praying people. I mean, we've been dedicated our lives to the Lord back in our early 20s and have been serving him ever since. So we are praying people, and we wouldn't do this if we didn't feel called to do it. And I believe that God equips you for whatever he's called you to do. And that was the case with this. When the decision was made, yes, he's going to go for it. It was out of a lot of prayer and discussion and thoughtfulness on the effect it would have on me, on my career, on the children, on their careers and, you know, on Byron and his career. Because remember, he was a partner in the top investment management firm in the country for Wells Fargo at the time. And really just at the start of his upward trajectory where he could have you know gone really far in that career and he decided to run for Congress, which required him to sell his partnership. and really only do Congress. So that was a sacrifice for him as well. He could leave Congress and go back to the private sector. So he has a lot of options, but we felt like this is the time for his leadership. You know, we're obviously very supportive of what DeSantis has done in the state of Florida. We want to see that continue. And we felt like he's the best person to do that right now. And I was all in when he decided to do it. When it comes to following in the footsteps of Casey DeSantis, Um, I'm curious what you think of her tenure as first lady. Um, the whole Florida situation became something that became something of a political scandal that was seen as her project. Do you view that as a cautionary table tale that a first lady could bite off more than anybody can chew and that, um, that there are risks in the bigger platform that you would then have? if there's no evidence that Casey had anything to do with anything that people have a problem with in terms of folklore, let's just put that out there right there. And I believe Casey has followed the passions that she has as a woman, as a mom, as a cancer survivor, and really advocated for a lot of those things as in her platform as First Lady. She also has very young children, and that allows her to be a role model for moms of young children in a different way. My kids are older. So I have a different platform and I have a different career, you know, than she had going in. And so I just think we're very different. I have a lot of respect for her and what she chose to focus on based on her background. I think I'm going to continue to do a lot of the things that I've done in my career and have influence, not just in Florida, but across the country and federally on education policy. That's really important to me as well. But I try not to just compare myself to anyone, whether it's First Lady or in general in my career. I just do what I feel is best for me to do. And I follow what God has called me to do in my life. And I believe that he'll lead me to be the best First Lady that I can be if I'm given that opportunity. Are there other issues that you would like to take on if you are First Lady? Yeah. I mean, I have been known for advocating for school choice, and that's what I'm going to continue to do as I have in that role. But Byron's plans around workforce preparation and making sure every student has a personalized pathway to the American dream. They know all the different ways that they can establish themselves in a career, whether that's directly out of high school, through apprenticeships and internships, or through our state college system. I am passionate about that as well. And it kind of goes along with another interest of mine, if you will, like economic development, making sure that we have the best companies that are coming to Florida, but not just for the sake of growth, but so that our kids in Florida are able to get those great jobs and have those great careers and build great families and stay here in our state. So it's a continuation and extension of education, but just in a different way than what people know me for. Do you think you'll take some of that on personally? I mean, do you want to go around lobbying companies and saying Florida is the place to do business, you personally? I mean, not necessarily. I think it's more on the side of preparing students and making sure that students are prepared because a lot of the feedback that we get from companies is that they don't feel like we have the prepared workforce and the talent pipeline that they need to bring their companies here. So what can I do to make sure that great companies that offer great jobs do want to come to Florida? Again, it's just an extension of my education work to ensure and advocate, if you will, not necessarily ensure, but advocate for these pathways to exist so that we have the dedicated workforce and that this growth benefits Florida students and they're not importing workers from out of state, but using our students to get these jobs. Take me behind the curtain a little bit. We get to see you on stage. We get to interview you in these circumstances. We see you at press conferences. I'm curious, are you and Byron political obsessives? Are you in the game and that means you have to act it out 24 hours a day? Or is there a time for politics and a time for a personal life? Yeah, I don't know what it means to act out politics 24 hours a day. Like, I don't know either. I just kind of came to me. No, we actually don't talk about politics much at home at all, which is so funny because things will happen and people will be like, well, what does Byron think about this? And I'm like, I don't know. Cause we, we don't like, we have so many other things to talk about. We have kids, family, other interests outside of politics. So it's, it's as much as you would talk about like work with your spouse, I suppose, you know, you, you know, what's going on with each other's work and that part of your life. But our life is very rich and full outside of politics. And we have amazing children and we have other enjoyments, each other. Do you watch TV? Are you readers? Are you sports fans? We watch TV. Byron's more of a TV person than I am. We have like, he has his TV, I have my TV, and then we have a few things that overlap. And those are the things we watch together. Like Landman, we just finished not long ago. And just, you know, but that's not a big part of us. We have, we live in Naples, as you know, And we enjoy time outdoors, going for walks, sitting on the back porch, enjoying our fire pit, which that time is coming soon. Yeah, I don't know how much time you'll have for that. But he said that he loves the fire pit. At the fire pit, is music on? Yeah, music on. Music. Yeah, we love music. So, yeah, and all kinds of music. So, yeah, we sit out by the fire pit with music on, just sometimes just enjoying the silence, sometimes talking. and we're very laid back people uh even though we go go go when it comes to you know what we're working on like the campaign and our our efforts with each of our careers but when it comes to relaxing we know how to do that too when things when things get difficult for him what what does he retreat to how does he handle a hard problem he retreats into silence and like self-reflection He wants to be alone. There are times when things are, you know, coming at you from all directions and he might be sitting out on the back porch, just in silence, just thinking, contemplating, praying. And we definitely get in the word, do devotions together and on our own, journaling, things that, you know, they help you to reflect on your own thoughts and what God is speaking to you. And I think we both believe a lot in that. Is he creative? Does he come up with solutions that you didn't think of or you're the ones coming up? Because my wife is the creative one. She thinks of, I never thought of it that way. Does he ever say that to you or do you say, boy, where did you think of that? I think we both do in different ways. We definitely think very differently. Obviously, he's more of a big picture thinker and a visionary, but we play off of each other very well. You know, when we're talking and talking through problems, yeah, I'm coming up with, hey, have you thought of it this way or that way? And the same with him. I value his input on the things that I struggle with or I'm trying to make decisions on. And I want him to help me think of it in different ways. And he does the same with me. I mean, we've been together for 26 years, so we know each other really well. That's not old yet either. Yeah. No, we're not old. We're very young. You're not old yet. I got to wrap things up. A couple of quick ones here. Does he get up or do you get up at heroic hours of the morning? Is it like 4:30 or is it like 7, 7:30? So he is a night owl and I'm an early morning person. So I'm the one who has to adjust to be a night owl because on the nights that he's home, to your point, we don't have a lot of those. so when he is i'm up late at night with him but I still can't sleep in, but he is not an early morning person but he will get up when he has to and do what needs to be done but I am definitely the early morning person I work out in the morning and get my stuff done recently Florida has exceeded the expectations when it comes to Republican success 2018 and 2022 are good examples of Democrats doing well nationally but in Florida the machine in Florida not not not to put any, not to cast aspersions with the word machine, but meaning the success of the Republicans in Florida is significant. Do you believe that will happen again? And how confident are you in a victory, not only a victory on election day, but a decisive victory on election day? I do think that he's going to have a decisive victory on election day. I have done countless events. I'm doing a lot of my own events now, two, three events a day. I am with him at some events. We're out there on the ground in communities with people who don't normally go to political events and hearing from the people. And there's just something about being out there in the mix, right, to know what's happening. And the momentum is on his side. But not only that, people do not want Florida to change. They want it to stay the same. That's one of the number one things that we hear out there is that, please just keep it going. Keep it going the same way it is. And I think Republicans are going to come out and be very motivated to make structure that DeSantis' legacy, Rick Scott's legacy, are not going to go by the wayside with a Democrat in charge. Are you feeling your heart beating as it gets closer? Are you nervous? Two, two, three weeks to go? I don't really get nervous. Byron doesn't either. That's kind of something we have in common. We just take everything day by day and just do what's in front of you and just keep it really calm and stay focused. And that's what we're doing. All right, Erica Donalds, Thank you so much for joining us today. I do want to mention, if you were curious, the David Jolly campaign, we did reach out to them to invite Laura Jolly on. They declined that invitation. So that was up to them. But we're very glad, Erica, that you were willing to join us. And thanks for spending all this time and more of a personal interview than we normally do with folks like you. So thank you for joining us. Thank you. All right. Where are we going next? We're going to take a quick break. And we will see you back here in a minute on Fox Tampa Bay Live.