Chris Fedalei: Podmetto Politics | The Business Blast Podcast #869

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All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Chris Vidali with us, and he was the youngest major party nominee for federal office in the 2016 election. Challenging Trey Gowdy in South Carolina's 4th District. He now co-hosts a podcast on South Carolina politics called Pod Meadow and works as a public defender in Greenville County. So welcome to the show, man.

Thanks for having me. It's awesome to be here.

Of course. Grateful to have you on. So, Chris, the first one that we ask on this show is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

I think probably the most important story that I tell people that really kind of sums up part of why I ran for office and why I continue to stay involved in politics comes from my mom growing up. Whenever she has this weird habit where if we're out to eat or if we have a meal or something and she finishes her plate, she doesn't just eat the food on it, she cleans the plate. And sometimes it can be a little bit embarrassing if we're in public or something, But it comes from, she grew up with a big Catholic family. She was one of 11 kids. Her dad worked for the church, so he did not make a lot of money. And food was frequently scarce for them. A chicken dinner was like one chicken, 13 mouths. And a lot of times her typical school lunch was a mayonnaise sandwich and a bag of Fritos. So when we, If me and my sister will like say something to her and we're out in public or something about like, hey, mom, chill out. She'll always be quick to remind us, you don't know what it's like to be hungry. And that's the thing that always sticks with me is 'cause she's right. I don't know what it's like to be hungry, but because I've seen her and know about her experiences, I know that I can't turn a blind eye to people that are hungry. You know, I know that it affects people. And I think it's a powerful message about We can't be blind to the suffering or struggle of others, pretend like it doesn't affect us or like we're somehow detached and apart from it. That's a really important thing, and I think more people need to be more cognizant of that.

And then what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

I think, well, I've only been practicing law for a few years, so most people talk to me, it's usually younger people who are thinking about running for office. and the piece of advice that I give to them is do it. Um, the, the old Gandhi quote of, we are, you know, we be the change that you want to see in the world. It's totally true. Don't wait for anyone else. Um, when I was campaigning, um, the State wrote a news article about, uh, Democrats that were running in the 2016 election, State being Columbia, South Carolina's major newspaper. Um, My favorite quote that I had in the media was, we made the headline, it was SC Democrat quote, "Sick of waiting." That really summed up what it was like for me growing up in Spartanburg, South Carolina, going to school in Columbia, South Carolina, returning to Greenville, South Carolina. I was sick of waiting for somebody with good ideas and who was really serious about making positive change to step up and run for office and do it in a way that I respected and liked.

Yeah, man, dude, it is incredible that you did it, man. I honor that, honestly. It is very cool, 'cause most people, even, I mean, me personally, I haven't thought about really doing anything political, but I know how difficult it was for me to even make the decision to drop out and start my own company. Now thinking back, I'm like, that wasn't so bad, but at the time, mentally, when I was 20 years old, that was very, very daunting. So to even consider running for office, I'm not sure. How old were you when you ran? Like around there, 22 or so?

I was 26 at the time. It was the first cycle that I was allowed by the Constitution to run.

Oh, see, I don't even know.

You have to be 25 to run for US House.

Got it. So you couldn't have been 22. I got you. But even then, I mean, now I'm 27 and I still feel like, whoa, that would be a lot of work to do that.

Yeah, it was. And looking back on it, it was the most stressful. I've never worked harder or cared more about anything. And so it made it extremely stressful. People that were dependent on me financially and professionally to organize and manage them as far as my campaign staff go. Yeah, people that worked really, really hard for me.

But it does, it just goes to show, you know, our audience here that, you know, if you do really care about something, like, you can make it happen. And I think that's why it's most important to like find your why. And that's what I tell people a lot. Like, I had trouble like doing my homework and stuff in school, but I can, but then running my own business, I'm not saying it's easy, but because I love what I do, I don't find it to be actually that difficult.

Right. You know, because I can't— what you do, you never work, right?

Yeah. So, um, the next one I got for you is, what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.

Um, the, the quote that when I think about that, the quote I always think about is what my property professor my first year of law school said to us, um, when our last class with him. And he, you know, he kind of made it really dramatic. He was, guys, there's one piece of advice I really, really want you to take home of anything else, more important than anything I've taught you in this class as far as the law goes. He pauses and he goes, don't be a jerk. Just be nice to people, be easy to work with. Relationships are everything, I think, in life and of course in business as well. So you don't dismiss anyone, you don't disregard anyone. I can tell you running in a long shot seat in politics, I remember the people that dismissed me and I remember the people that gave me a shot or listened to me or supported me when I was not a super likely to win candidate.

Yeah, and I'm with you, man. Relationships, I think, are everything. And I also— there's like that Ralph Waldo Emerson quote where you can learn something from every man. Like, I totally agree with that. No matter if it's a homeless person or if it's somebody who's worth a billion dollars, I do believe like through whatever they've been through, through their story and like just them as an individual, you can learn something and have a positive relationship with, with anyone really.

Right.

So I'm curious on your answer to this next one. If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Oh, that, that is, that's a deep one because there's, you know, you always want to like say, hey, I live my life with no regrets, I didn't make any wrong decisions, but I would definitely say I wish, as far as the run for office goes, I would have planned more and done more work in advance. That's, it's kind of like a cardinal sin to even admit that we, like, you were not perfectly organized, but that's the reality of it. But behind the veil, behind the curtain in politics, you realize that there is no such thing as magic. And it's a lot of people just working their tails off because they really believe it's, I would have had more of the— I had the passion and I had the knowledge on issues, but I would have been more well-versed in the nitty-gritty of what is my day-to-day life going to look like and what does it take to really not just have a message, because I had the message, but what does it take to get the message out?

Then kind of going a little bit down a different path, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

I think it's, I would say balance more than anything else. I don't think this, I'm a philosophy major, so I remember reading, and I'm gonna butcher the name now, sorry, my philosophy professors, but Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. You might even need to cut that out. I've probably killed that pronunciation. But the whole point about his theory of ethics was that like, It's not— being courageous is not about never turning around and running away. Being courageous is about knowing when to be afraid and still sticking there. It's not having no fear of death or whatever. It's people who are afraid and still stay in the paint, stay in the fight. So I would say balance all things, you know, apply to whether it's your work life, whether it's relationships, whether it's a hobby or passion you have. I think if you put all your eggs in one basket or you go all in one way or another, you're not really going to achieve what it means to be a complete and fulfilled human being.

And then what is the best book that you've read? And what was the number one thing you learned from that?

I would have to go back to my favorite childhood book called The Phantom Tollbooth. Have you ever heard of that?

No, I actually have not.

It is an awesome, awesome book. And what I learned from that is loving to learn. The whole book is kind of this fantastic adventure, but it follows this kid through all kinds of different— through numbers and letters and words. And it's about not wasting your time on idle tasks. You know, spending a lot of time doing stuff doesn't mean that you're actually doing anything, if you think about it like that. Yeah. And it's about really just having a passion for learning, and it's the kid's passion for not just learning but appreciating all the different things about the world, to not just like having knowledge given to you by somebody else, but going out and experiencing things and gaining knowledge that way. It really captured my imagination as a kid and really inspired me to be like, it's cool to learn. I want to be this guy that keeps learning about things about the world around him.

And then what is your favorite quote and why?

My favorite quote is going to be from my favorite philosopher. His name was Bertrand Russell. He's a 20th century philosopher from England. And he wrote an essay called The Good Life. And the thesis of that essay, which has kind of become my personal mantra since I first read this book, like, in high school, but it's, the good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge. Meaning that you, you know, you experience and feel love as a powerful emotion and empathy and compassion and things like that. But your actual actions are not just guided by that, it's guided by knowledge, by facts, by how do you best effectuate— effectuate your love for others, or, you know, other living things, whatever it is, you use knowledge to guide, hone, and fashion that.

Well, listen, thank you so much for coming on. The last one that I got for you, I'm sure our audience is curious, is where How can our audience best find you online?

So please, by all means, subscribe, like, and follow Pod Meadow Politics. I didn't even get to plug it yet, but Pod Meadow Politics is the podcast that I work on right now. It covers South Carolina politics. Myself and my co-host Jared Wiggins started that because we did not think there was an outlet for particularly younger people to get engaged in South Carolina politics and hear what it's like behind that curtain. So that's what Podmetto is all about. We have really fantastic people we bring on and interview. You can find us online, Podmetto Politics. We're available on all platforms where you can find podcasts. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook as well, @podmetto. That's P-O-D-M-E-T-T-O.

Perfect, man. Thank you again for coming on.

Thank you so much, Tyler. I really appreciate it.

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