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All heroes should have this stylish and RN-approved first-aid kit. Pick up this baby to rescue a little human from boo boos, belly aches, and bloody messes.

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OK, yes-people. We see you, we acknowledge you, and now we beg you to redistribute some of the tasks you piled high on your plate. You’re not superhuman!

“My mentor once told me, ‘You don’t need a title or an office—or even a desk, or even a chair, or even a pencil or a pen to lead and to make change. You can [have an impact on] people from wherever you sit, and you can lead from wherever you sit.’”

Yuh-Line Niou is a lifelong Democrat and a powerful, progressive leader for her low-income, immigrant, and working constituents. In 2016, she claimed a historic landslide victory to represent New York’s 65th Assembly District, becoming the first AAPI woman in the NYS Assembly and the first Asian American to represent Chinatown in the State Legislature. Now, she’s in a crowded race to represent New York’s 10th Congressional District.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kickoff: “The first thing I do is let my dog out. Then I join my team immediately for a couple calls. They’re always my first calls in the morning and my last calls at night. I have a lot of campaign meetings back to back, but because I’m already an elected official, I’m constantly in touch with my constituents [for] casework. Like right now—right at this moment—some of our public housing complexes [don’t have any hot water]. So I’m working on getting that fixed.”

Her early start: “When I was a young person, I thought that government was something that just happened to me. I thought laws just happened to me. And that, there [was] some big secret to accessing the government. But the more I learned and started working within the government, I realized there are just a lot of powerful people who don’t want us to realize we actually have the power to change things.

I started working very young in the legislature, and lots of people didn’t take me seriously. I was the main staffer for the healthcare chair and people would tell me to get them coffee. And it was especially challenging to be a young person of color with a disability. That’s why it’s really important to me that we have diverse and powerful representation in our legislature, and that we’re fighting for transparency and access to the government.”

Setting goals: “I’ve never been somebody to try to set a professional goal, in that [traditional] sense…And for myself, I just want to make sure that I can make an impact. And I think that’s something that may be a little bit strange for folks to hear. Since there are a lot of things people would say are drivers for pursuing a particular career or doing a certain thing professionally.”

Weathering tough politics: “Right now our country is in a crisis. There have been [devastating] shootings all across the country, and we’re seeing a tremendous amount of hate. But we’re also seeing our government sit by while we are stripped of protections over our bodily autonomy…There are just so many things that have been happening, and it’s been pretty horrific. And so I think that what we need right now is political courage. We need people who are not just there to save their seats, but there to save their people.”

Helping your community: “The most basic thing you can do is make sure you’re talking to legislators and getting civically engaged. And more than all that is to vote. People don’t realize  their vote is so important…People have died for this right to vote, and people have bled for it and cried for it. So I think it’s really important that we exercise it. I think it’s really important that we’re making sure we’re encouraging one another and not getting discouraged [by] our government. Because I know that it’s frustrating. I know; it’s hard.”—MW

Your punch list for when you punch out.

Read: The flutter you feel when you spot a monarch butterfly could soon become a distant memory as our darling winged friends are now endangered due to climate change and habitat loss. Find out more about the critical window of time we have to act.

Watch: We’re saying “Yup” to Jordan Peele’s Nope. And we agree 100% with the online commenter who said, “There’s nothing scarier than a horror film that takes place during the day.”

Drink: Ceremonies and celebrations are changing thanks to new, nonalcoholic beverages like this sparkling cider set from Three Spirits. Even better, this brand uses only ethically sourced and regeneratively farmed fruits and ferments.

Self-invest: Morning Brew’s Accelerator courses kick your butt into gear. In 8 weeks you’ll master how to efficiently run a biz, talk numbers with the CFO, or lead your team to KPI greatness. Go get it.

Burning questions of our time.

Taking more time to do less:

Some of the best vacations take place on a far-flung beach, and others right on your own couch. Sadly, taking time to do nothing doesn’t come naturally to most of us, even though research suggests it’s integral if you wanna truly disconnect from work.

The reality is that most companies cap the number of paid days off employees get, and this makes it difficult for workers to buy into the idea that resting is the best way to use PTO. Would you use your precious paid vacation to do nothing? Or do you have an aversion to “squandering” your days off? Share your thoughts with us in the inbox!—MW

And now, your thoughts on the experience equation:

“I’m about to finish a graduate degree, and I’ve had a lot of internships. If I deleted internships off of my résumé, there’d be nothing but summer lifeguard gigs and education. Internships are more than printing things and grabbing coffees. I’m doing really meaningful work that affects the companies I’ve worked for. It’s a never-ending cycle if you have to have experience and no one will give you that first foot in the door…and now it’s happening with internships, too.”—Alex

“Over the years, internships have grown from being an errand-running or observing-only role to completing analytics and shadowing so [interns understand] enough to ask questions…From what I’ve seen, if the intern can speak on a project they worked on or tell me what their responsibilities were, it definitely counts as work experience.”—Kristin