Vice President Harris Speaking at The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco

We weren’t expecting the email…

…much like anyone wouldn’t be expecting an email from a presidential campaign on what felt like another random Wednesday afternoon. Chloe had carefully and confidently chosen GREATNESS as a manifestation value for 2024 with Morgan Shidler’s Hustle & Play program. Was this email a direct result of that? It sure felt like it to us. We replied back with haste, fumbling over the keys, shouting in various pithy exclamations that it couldn’t be, not us, no way.

We photographed the first event with Gretchen Whitmer up in Marin and it was off to the political races. Apparently the team liked us and felt that we were well matched to capture the energy of the moment. It was an unfolding opportunity that we still couldn’t believe was ours and a challenge that we met with astute and unwavering enthusiasm.

We swiftly and stealthily found ourselves on flights towards rooms small and large, our cameras poised at Joe, Jill, Pete, Hillary, Kamala, Dougie, Walz, Barack MFing Obama. We had front row seats to all of it: the big ideas and the plans for the path forward toward a future of progressive evolution, freedom for all and a healthier planet and away from a future of impending doom. The speeches in these rooms felt hopeful, inspired and assured. The interactions and conversations felt charged and irrefutable. The arguments and platforms seemed impenetrable, especially within the context of the onslaught from the opposing party. The high honor of being in those rooms, capturing HERstory, was not lost on us for a single moment, and it was a whirlwind journey that we will never forget.

While the year was unfolding and this work became our most prominent focus, it all felt hectic and hurried, nestled in amongst all of our wonderful work and clients in the Bay and beyond. It was exhilarating, though, and our tiny team revelled in the anticipation of that next call or email, the booking of plane rides, hotel rooms, the expedited editing, exploring and observing various parts of this country as one or more of our team ventured off. The incredibly diverse and relentlessly dedicated Harris staff became our friends and confidants. Together we dreamed of what could be and also lamented in worry and fear of what was on the other side of the coin. This experience moved us, shook us, changed us.

We hoped with every fiber of our beings that this news would get to be shared within the reality of a Harris win and Presidency. So what do we do now? Where do we go from here? How do we stretch to the ends of our empathy, energy, abilities? How do we protect ourselves, our communities, our planet at large with so much working directly and defiantly against progress and protections for our loved ones, neighbors and fellow citizens?

The great Martin Luther King Jr. said it best:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

It seems fitting, imperative and as consequential as ever to remember these words, to say them out loud, to pass them onto others, to spread them out into the world with every act. In congruence with MLK Jr’s words, Harris delivered this sentiment in her concession speech:

“The light of America’s promise will always burn bright, as long as we never give up, and as long as we keep fighting.”

We plan to exist in and BE the light through our work, in how we show up for ourselves, our team, our clients, our neighbors, our city, and our world, with the steadfast hope that we will all get through this together.

With Love, Hope & the Beautiful Memory of Joy,

The CJP Family

Chloe, Mike, Lisa, Tara & Morgan

Beautiful words written by our very own Lisa 🤍