Best 21 quotes of Alyssa Mastromonaco on MyQuotes

Alyssa Mastromonaco

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I didn't have a ton of role models back in 1998. So, when I was looking to get in, it was really just looking up at all the men who were out there. When you're not seeing women - when you're breaking into anything - it's like, "Well, this is what the men do and how they act, so we're going to just emulate that behavior.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I'd love to say "Donald Trump is just sexist." And I do believe he's sexist, but I also believe that he also treats anyone who is his opponent in a very insane and disrespectful way.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I don't think that Donald Trump treated Hillary any differently than he treated Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio. He is a deeply disrespectful person who didn't have enough reverence for the office he was running for to act humane.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    If you look at Obama - I think that what you saw during those eight years, and in those last few weeks, was that he really loves people and he is going to miss them. And that he deeply appreciate the opportunity he was given.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I saw Obama's thought process behind the few moments of free time he had and how he used them. So, I knew that him taking the time to call me meant he really cared and really deeply understood how upset I was. That's what made it so meaningful.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I think that if you look at all of the books that have ever been written about people working in the White House, they're sort of the opposite of my book. And I think that so many people want to write a book that sort of memorializes their place in history. And I wanted to write something for all of the women who are like me. I grew up in upstate New York, I graduated high school with 70 other people and didn't ever know that anything like this would have really been an option for me. So I wanted other young women — and men — to know that just being you is plenty.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I wanted young women to know that I was very lucky that I worked for people who literally let me be me. If I had ever been anyone other than me, I would have come off as a fake, a phony, a fraud, and never would have gotten where I ultimately ended up. You can be yourself and be in politics, and they should know that. That was kind of why I wanted to do it - because I didn't see any freaks in politics like me.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I would encourage young women to find a person, give it your all, and leave it all on the field. The one thing I have found is that, if you are sitting at a table, most women will want to only give their opinion only when it's almost fact in their mind - whereas dudes will pontificate a lot more. And I will tell you, I've started pontificating a lot more, which is very satisfying. Women should not be afraid to speak.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I would say that Barack Obama not only made me a better person but made me better at my job. He's one of the most intellectually curious people you'll ever meet and really brings that out in other people.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    President Obama really just let all of us genuinely be who we were and didn't expect — I'm goofy. And so for him, he just never expected us to be any different than who we were and he wanted us to always give our opinions. He is not the kind of person who wanted to sit around and be told he was right all the time. Especially if he wasn't. And I think that seeing that in him made us all take that away with us.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    The thing that I think is so depressing, fundamentally, about Donald Trump, is that he doesn't appreciate what's happening right now. He doesn't seem to think it's an honor. He doesn't seem to understand why we're actually super blessed to have the government we have. I also don't ever get the sense that he loves Americans.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    When I first got to the White House, I was super anxious all the time about not knowing the answer to every question. And Obama was actually the person who let me be me. He was like, "Alyssa's not the person who wears the Ann Taylor suit. She's not the kind of person who always says the exact right thing." And I'm a bit of a wild animal. I brought a different perspective and I was a little bit more irreverent and casual.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    When I had been dating my husband for a while, the president Obama said to me, "When is he going to put a ring on it?" And I was like, "Oh, come on. We are so busy. We don't need to think about that." He said, "He needs to put a ring on it because you're worth it." And the thing is, I'm not even kidding you, it was about a week or two later that we got engaged.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    When you travel with the president, especially when you are traveling to foreign countries, the people that you travel with really become your family pretty quick. ... Most of the people who travel with me, they knew when I would get a stomachache.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I ended up as the assistant to the CEO at an Internet start-up called SenseNet on Hudson Street. I had no interest in the Internet, or venture capital, or really anything I was doing, but the people were nice and I could wear whatever I wanted to work and it was within walking distance of our apartment. Sometimes, for a little while, that's enough.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I have learned a lot about myself over the years, mostly because I was open to hearing feedback. I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I usually dislike someone before I like them. I’m sensitive—especially when I’m tired or feel I’m being misunderstood. This may sound like the “About Me” section on a bad online dating profile, but knowing this stuff has allowed me to keep my contacts, my reputation, and my sanity throughout a long and often stressful career. Being self-aware means knowing when you’re about to act bad—and then not acting bad.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    It doesn't matter who came to talk to me,' he said (Barack Obama). He went on to say that I needed to realize the power of my words. I could not send emails like that because they - I am paraphrasing - freak everyone out. Developing self-awareness is a lifelong process; you don't just wake up one day and have all you need. So even though I'd spend the last few months demonstrating that I was cable and knew what I was doing, this was something of a revelation. When the president of the United States tells you your words are powerful, it can be pretty shocking. I honestly didn't think anyone would give a shit if I sent a snippy email. It was good advice, specifically to me at the time but generally as it relates to any kind of replying-all in life: Think about how what you say could affect people, from the top down. It was also a wake-up call for me about my state of mind: I didn't know why (yet) - though I'm sure I did, deep down - but my temper was getting worse, and my fuse shorter and shorter.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    I thought it wouldn’t work, but I didn’t know it wouldn’t work, so I didn’t say anything. That might be the difference between men and women: Women need to know they are right before they stand up. Men are OK objecting if they just think they might be right.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    Part of knowing how to be prepared comes from being self-aware—being able to anticipate what you’ll need (or screw up) and planning accordingly. I know I am rarely, if ever, the smartest person in the room. And that’s totally OK. What’s not OK is (1) not recognizing that and (2) not coming ready to participate in a meaningful way.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    What you realize is that everyone has her own priorities—her own constituency. Often, being a leader is not about making grand proclamations or telling people what to do; it’s about balancing all these priorities and constituencies.

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    Alyssa Mastromonaco

    You should always be prepared to defend your choices, whether just to yourself (sometimes this is the hardest) or to your coworkers, your friends, or your family. The quickest way for people to lose confidence in your ability to ever make a decision is for you to pass the buck, shrug your shoulders, or otherwise wuss out. Learning how to become a decision maker, and how you ultimately justify your choices, can define who you are.