She was denied an abortion in Tennessee. Now she is running for office to ensure that doesn’t happen to others

Fast Company’s new cover story focuses on a growing cohort: the young Americans taking a career gamble on politics. These bold individuals—including Nate Douglas, Allie Phillips, Ashwin Ramaswami, and Anna Thomas—are smart, politically engaged, and restless for change. They are following their convictions despite the risks to their bank accounts and personal safety. And they’ve got help.

David Hogg—the activist who drew national attention following the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida—joined forces last year with campaign operative Kevin Lata to launch Leaders We Deserve, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young progressive candidates win office, predominantly at the state level.

Fast Company spoke with four of the rising political forces that Leaders We Deserve is backing—Nate Douglas, Allie Phillips, Ashwin Ramaswami, and Anna Thomas—about their career choices, the work of campaigning and governing, and what keeps them moving forward.

Here’s what you need to know about Allie Phillips, a 29-year-old candidate in Tennessee.

Office Running ForTennessee House of Representatives, District 75

Primary DateAugust 1

Election DateNovember 5

Expected Government Salary$28,406

Previous JobRan an in-home daycare

Current JobRuns social media for ForwardTN

Career She Thought She’d HaveNews anchor. “Then I had a baby my last semester of college and became a single mom so that was set aside.”

EducationMiddle Tennessee State University, BS in multimedia journalism

Impetus for Running“This time last year, I was pregnant . . . a planned-for and wanted pregnancy with my husband. At 19 weeks, we found out that there were fetal anomalies and got sent to a high-risk specialist. At that appointment, we were told that pretty much everything that could be wrong was wrong. [The baby] was deemed incompatible with life in and out of the womb. The doctor told me that if I chose to stay pregnant, it would put my health and life at risk. Tennessee law had no [abortion] exceptions except to preserve the life of the mother, and I wasn’t sick enough [yet]. So I had to scramble and raise money and flew to New York City a week and a half after my high-risk appointment. I found out that she had already passed during that time, and so I was at risk of going septic. I ended up essentially getting an emergency abortion. . . . I don’t want anybody to go through that again.”

Favorite Part of the Workday“We have team meetings every Tuesday. I get to hear the updates from all the different parts of my team—I love that because it reminds me that we’re all in this together. Also, seeing the responses online when I post about upcoming things that I’m doing. There’s always so much support, and that’s what helps me get through the days.”

Least Favorite part of the Workday“I guess I would say when Zooms last longer than they are scheduled to, but that’s about it.”

Number of Staffers15

Most Rewarding Thing That’s Happened“Hundreds of women have reached out to share their stories. Some of those women have said, ‘I’ve never told this story to anybody, but I felt like you would get it,’ and they shared their story with me. I feel like I’ve made this safe space for women to be vulnerable and open. I don’t know the stats on this, but from my team’s perspective, we think I am the first candidate in the country to run for office [after the overturning of] Roe who was denied an abortion.”

Scariest Thing That’s Happened“I get death threats online a lot, [and] people have threatened my family. I try to take that as seriously as I can, but I also have to realize that some of these people don’t even live in this city, or they’re just keyboard warriors. But you can never take a death threat lightly.”