Dear Alexis and Mila,
I am very sorry to be the one to tell you this, but there is one less opportunity on the table for you. It is now impossible for either of you to become the first ever female Vice President of the United States. That honor has already officially been bestowed upon Kamala Harris. She's incredibly qualified and will be a strong leader at a time when we badly need a strong leader, so don't hold it against her that she beat you to a lofty goal. Rather, you're going to have to dream bigger if you hope to smash through some of that glass ceiling.
If we're being honest, though, what I hope for most is that when you eventually read these words, that paragraph won't make sense. I hope that you don't encounter the glass ceiling that I have often found myself scraping. I hope the words "glass ceiling" alone are confusing and confounding. I hope that it sounds like a fairytale when I tell you about all of the times I couldn't get a word in edgewise during a meeting. I hope it baffles you when I tell you about how I often had to make an idea that was mine alone into an idea had by a man because otherwise it would have continued unheard.
I hope you don't believe me when I say that I didn't think I was at all qualified for the job I have now because men in my life told me I wasn't. I can tell you with certainty that they were very wrong, for what it's worth. I am more than qualified, a fact which I prove daily, and a fact which I'm glad a recruiter believed. "Do the job you want and eventually it will be yours," is absolutely the worst advice I've ever been given. "Get recognition for the job you do" is far better.
Take credit for what you do.
So, girls, I'm sorry that you can't be the first female Vice President of the United States, but all of those other possibilities that float through your mind? Yes. Yes, you can. You can do any of it.
Love,
The Lady Who Has Greatly Enjoyed Sweeping Up All That Broken Glass Lately