We're Shaun and Wailin, two audio producers in Chicago who were surprised and excited to learn our friend Neal Sáles-Griffin was running for mayor of Chicago. We had lots of questions about what it takes to run a campaign at this level as a political outsider, so we started a podcast to follow along with his journey. In our first episode, we talk to Neal about the importance of the beginner's mindset, the tools he's building for his campaign that he plans to make available for other first-time candidates, and how documenting his process is part of a bigger plan to be mayor with term limits. (Note: We produced this episode before incumbent Rahm Emanuel made the surprise announcement that he's not running for a third term. Neal will address the news in a bonus episode coming next week!)

Show Notes

• Neal and his friend Mike McGee founded a coding school called Code Academy, later renamed Starter League. Read Mike's account of how they launched their business. (1:24)
• Abner Mikva's obituary in the Chicago Tribune (1:47)
• The Campaign Manager: Running and Winning Local Elections by Catherine Shaw (6:46)
• Neal talks about the Questionnaires app, which you can find at OurPlatform.com (14:48)