Featured Friday: William Muetzenberg
Hello, hello, hello everyone, and Happy Friday! Officially it's the first week of May and I can’t believe how fast time is flying and how quickly summer is approaching. I hope we are all getting our summer itineraries together, filled with warm nights and cool drinks. In case you missed some of our blogs from last week I had the special honor of Featuring my amazing brother, Vinny the Don, for our Friday segment and a very special friend of ours was our twenty-something of the month, Emily Highstreet, which she talks about her journey of moving to a big city. Check these amazing blogs out whenever you get the chance! For the segment for this week's Feature Friday I am so excited to introduce a very unique individual onto our blog who is trying to change the world one day at a time. This gentleman is extremely inspiring and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to sit down to interview him and learn about his life. Time to share the spotlight and introduce William Muetzenberg to OnBrand.
During the 2020 election year, posters and signs were displayed all over Tracy advertising political campaigns for citizens to vote for during the polls. One politician’s sign that particularly caught my attention was the “Vote for Will” campaign because the man that was pictured on the sign looked very young. I immediately followed the politician on social media, did some digging, and found out that he was a Twenty-Something politician that was living in Tracy and was making a difference in his community. I knew automatically that I wanted to interview this guy, find out what pushed him to take such an interesting route during his twenty-somethings and have him on our blog. From our first DM interaction to our communication after the interview, Will is a passionate, standup, and an amazing guy that has a vision for himself and his community that was extremely inspiring to hear.
William’s story is a unique, one that genuinely shows how much passion he feels for wanting to make a change. William was originally born in Hayward then moved to Tracy during his childhood. He distinctly remembers the 04 presidential elections and how interested he felt in the policies and candidates, this was one of his first true callings towards wanting to get involved within government. This interest continued during his favorite subject in school which was history and even became involved within the political clubs during high school. He transitioned into the next step of his life by going to the prestigious college UCLA and receiving his bachelor's in political science. Instead of staying down in LA or moving to a large city, Will wanted to take all of the knowledge and insight he had learned during his academic career and bring it back to his hometown to help the town he grew up in. He wanted the chance to be able to give back to his community and even stated “People should want to come back and make a positive impact for Tracy.” William now works for a contract lobbyist firm in Sacramento and helps with different state-level platforms that include animal legal defense and special education programs. When I asked what his future goals are for his political career he would love to be in congress or be a US senator. However, he placed a heavier emphasis on wanting to create a career that leaves a lasting legacy, having people that can trust him, and being able to implement important policy.
As two Twenty-Somethings, a lot of our conversation was based around what William wished people would know about politics and opened my eyes about government. William states that government is not as intimidating as most people would think and that all of our voices no matter how small do matter. He wished that our generation was more adamant about the things that we wanted for our city so that we could start implementing change and policies geared towards more people in our generation. He advocates for our generation to ask the important questions, don’t be afraid, voice your issues, build connections, call your local government officials, connect with him, and genuinely get involved. If you feel powerless when it comes to politics, which I will be honest in the past I have felt this way before, the best way to overcome this is to take your power back and take a step in the direction you want the world to look like. If everyone stepped up and did one action that felt a little uncomfortable, we could see a positive shift within our communities. William spoke a lot about being proactive in positive change and leaving a foundation for his city. Some platforms that he is heavily invested in, regards to Tracy, is fighting for this city to be more geared towards the needs of our generation for affordable housing, economic recovery, better transportation, and overall more resources for our citizens. Lastly, he wanted people to know that there is so much power on all levels of government. A lot of people think that either congress or the president controls everything within our government but the impact that local officials and politicians have over our cities is astronomical, these policies include our rent, bike paths, leisure, nightlife, and our school system.
This was truly an amazing opportunity to be able to speak with William. Our generation of twenty-somethings is finding out what drives our passion and following our dreams, and it is so refreshing to interview someone with such a rare mindset. Politics is something that has been intimidating to me before, but after talking with William, it has inspired me to want to seek change in this world and to know that when I sign a petition or go to a peaceful protest it does make a difference. I hope this inspires you to want to make a difference within your own lives and communities, and we all feel inspired to find our voices, sign a petition, or call a city council member. I also hope this inspires you all to continue to find passions that fuel you and give you a higher purpose in life no matter what the calling is. There are so many amazing routes along this journey of life and we are all driven, smart, and capable enough to chase our wildest dreams. Have a great weekend everybody and I will see you next week.
Stay Safe and Happy Travels
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