Laura McWilliams, a mother and care worker from Lincoln, became a councillor for the first time last week. This tweet summing up how she feels about it has been shared hundreds of times.
She said she decided to share her story while taking part in a two-day induction training course for new councillors at Lincoln's city hall, in the East Midlands.
"Suddenly being in that lift, it just reminded me that the last time I’d been in that lift I’d been really upset and that was less than two years ago – and now I’m in there being inducted as a councillor," she said.
McWilliams moved to Lincoln three years ago from her hometown of Milton Keynes to be with her fiancé. They now have a daughter called Arabella, who is 2 years old.
At first, McWilliams had a job in retail management, but because it was a contract covering maternity leave, she had no job to go back to after having her own baby.
"I think I was quite naive in thinking about getting back to work again. I don’t think I realised how hard it would be – particularly when you’ve got a young daughter and you're working round child care," she said.
She told BuzzFeed News she had no idea her story would prove so inspiring to so many people.
"I’ve always worked in retail as a manager. I’d managed large stores and got good experience, but suddenly I found I was applying for these jobs and I wasn’t being asked for interviews – people weren’t even getting back to me.
"I had postnatal anxiety after I had my little girl and really struggled with my mental health and my own feelings about how good I was," she added.
"I was applying for anything and everything and just wasn’t getting any luck. I felt really down and almost like a failure, like I wasn’t doing the right thing, that I was a burden.
"There’s such a stigma around job-seekers and I think people have this perception of job-seekers – that’s why it was really important to me that I was never going to be ashamed of that and I was never going to hide that because every two weeks I was in there signing on and that’s the way it was."
Standing in the lift as a Labour councillor rather than a job-seeker was a big moment, she said.
"It sounds so simple but to use the lift you have to have a fob," she explained. "And I used to always bring my little girl in her pushchair and I used to be quite embarrassed.
"I used to wait by the door and hope someone would let me in. It sounds like the simplest thing but to be able to use that fob and go into that lift and not be waiting around for anyone else to let me in – metaphorically, it was such a great reflection of how down I’d been and how, despite the setback, I'd just really worked hard and it paid off."
McWilliams, who now works night shifts in a care home as well as her day job as a councillor, says she got involved with the Labour party soon after moving to Lincoln.
"I felt quite motivated, getting annoyed with things in the community and seeing the same old faces when it comes to councillors," she said. "I thought, I need to put my money where my mouth is, so I got involved in the local Lincoln Labour party and helped out with campaigning.
"I’ve never shied away from how difficult things have been for my family and I have been a job-seeker and I have looked for work and money is tight.
"When the opportunity came up that there were some seats available for the city council elections, I first thought ... particularly as a woman, you think of every reason why you’re not good enough rather than the reasons you are."
But she applied and was selected to be the Labour candidate for the Carholme ward, where she won the seat in last Thursday's local elections.
And she has some advice for people who don't think they have the right background to become politicians.
A huge thank you to the residents of Carholme who voted for me. Can’t wait to get started in working for you all. In the 100th anniversary of (some) Women getting the vote I am proud to have been elected. 🌹❤️ https://t.co/BrzHnsIKKZ
"I think it’s important that people aren’t ashamed of where they come from. I never thought in a million years I’d inspire anyone and apparently, I did. Don’t give up and don’t ever forget who you are.
"When I knock on doors, and I’ve got people who say 'I don’t know anything about politics and no one represents me and everyone is the same' – that is not the case. If you care enough about where you live and the people around you, that’s really all that matters and all the experience you need."
And, of course, people love her story.
