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Erik: What has working as a lobbyist and as a consultant taught you about listening to
others?
Audrey: It's amazing to me how many perspectives can all be in a room, all coming at a certain
situation from a very different angle and wanting -- perhaps the same outcome but for
different reasons and how important it is to determine -- someone may say one thing
but they may be okay with a slightly different outcome at the end of the day, some people
may say exactly what they want and some people may overshoot thinking that they're gonna,
you know, only get half as far and that's really okay with them at the end of the day
and so through the lobbying and through the consulting really understanding our clients,
what our clients, our utility -- electric utility companies want and users of electricity,
what do they want and why and then any sorts of lobbyist or other entities, non-profits,
environmental groups, consumer groups, we work with them a lot to understand what do
they support and why and then where and when possible we put the support for a similar
thing into language that each group understands and can get behind because a lot of times
there's not as much disconnect as it would appear when you first get disparate groups
in the same room with each other. So you have to listen to understand, you have to listen
-- as soon as you can really grasp where they're coming from you can show them the way a certain
outcome will actually meet their needs if it does, hopefully it does, and, you know,
much more opportunity to reach a resolution that everyone can be in agreement and alignment
with to move forward.