Every Sunday, when we meet, we look at what’s on the schedule. We’ll say Monday, what do you have? She had a meeting Monday, I had the girls, she had a meeting tonight, so I had the girls. (To Tameika: What do we have planned tomorrow?) (Laughs). We may even take the girls with us. Friday is family night and Saturday is family and community day. Then Sunday we are back at it again. Having the weekly meeting to discuss things amongst ourselves is one way we balance.

Of course support, I’m from North Augusta an hour from Columbia. Tameika’s family lives here. Her mother and brother, my sister and cousin who live here, helps us with babysitting. We have a great support system. We don’t say yes to everything because we know we have to balance. Of course there are trying times when we have to go away weeks at a time, but we also know our priorities. Our children are getting older, We have to make sure we are there for those special moments, so they don’t forget.

I remember growing up and my parents always being there and we always want to make sure we are there for our girls. We want them to remember mommy and daddy were always there. Monday night we both had meetings, and I actually took them with me and one of the community members said your girls are going to be well-rounded because they know how to go to a meeting, read a book, and not disturb the meeting. Our 4 year old will sit and watch a movie and our 9 year old will sit and read a book. We are blessed because they have great discipline. We are thankful for them being the great young ladies they are too.

BMWK: That’s great. You said something interesting and key too, because children won’t forget if you are never there. That is something they will definitely hold on to.

Jamie: Yes.

BMWK: That brings me to my next question, because I am so impressed with both of your backgrounds, especially Tameika being the first African-American female to serve on the city council. I am wondering when you speak of your girls, what legacy do you hope to leave behind?

Tameika: Honestly, I hope to leave one that anything is possible, that the sky’s the limit to them. When I was growing up my parents encouraged me to set goals and dream big. When I ran for office it never occurred to me, until a week before the election, that when I won, it would be history. I didn’t run to make history or do something that hadn’t been done. Even when I decided to run, there were naysayers and people saying, oh you’re not going to win, or you’re too young and you’re an African-American female, not from a political family.

And the majority of the people in the city are white, and since you are running at large, you won’t get enough white votes. I had all these naysayers, it was funny that until people start trying to tell me I couldn’t do it, I never thought I couldn’t do it. I want my girls to have that kind of mindset. That they can do anything they want and they can’t let people set limits on them just because they’re girls or from South Carolina.

I want them to have that thought that they can do anything. In combination with that, the other legacy is I want them to know we all have a very important role in this world, and part of being somebody and being successful isn’t all about the titles. It’s about what you do for the community. With both of us, they see that mommy and daddy aren’t home a lot, but we also make sure they understand  that when we’re out, what we’re doing and why we do it. So they don’t see it as losing time with their mom and dad, but that community service and spending time in the community is important as well.