From winning Miss Washington, D.C. to hosting her own TV show on Fox News to founding a political consulting firm and most recently authoring a new book on politics and the media, Angela McGlowan (BPA 93) has made a name for herself in Washington politics and beyond.
Growing up in “small town” Mississippi, McGlowan learned early how influential a political opinion could be. Her parents instilled in her the values of chasing dreams and helping others.
“My parents always taught me to help somebody,” she said. “Through politics and our nation’s system you always can.”
Though passionate about her political beliefs, McGlowan began her college career as an English/Pre-med major. After some helpful advice from her Ole Miss advisors she discovered a love for criminology. Though she didn’t know it at the time, McGlowan was continuing a family tradition. Many years earlier her father received the same bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, Criminal Justice.
While at Ole Miss, McGlowan juggled her time participating as a Rebelette, Ole Miss Top Ten Beauty, an avid Grove fan and a member of numerous university organizations. After graduation, she began her search for the right career. She got her start temping for a federal communications law firm, and after gaining ground in the political workforce, would later make her claim to fame as a telecommunications lobbyist.
McGlowan also entered and won the Miss Washington, D.C. USA pageant. After her reign she traded in her high heels for working shoes and hit the streets of Washington handing out resumes and speaking to whomever would listen.
Upon recommendation from senator Trent Lott, McGlowan got a job working with Senator Bob Dole. She later took on Capital Hill as a lobbyist for the gaming industry with a little help from Haley Barbour. A southern girl at heart, McGlowan credits her Mississippi roots with the helping hands she has met along the way to Washington.
“Everything comes full circle,” said McGlowan. “Mississippians should be very proud of their senators and congressional members.”
After countless debate appearances, her own television show, FOX Five in New York, and hundreds of hours logged to promote the conservative view, McGlowan once again started something new. She founded Political Strategies and Insights, a Washington, D.C. based, government affairs and public relations consulting firm. McGlowan has represented big-name clients such as News Corporation, Motorola and Qualcomm, and continues to provide public relations and advocacy representation to many others.
“Once I lobbied on Capital Hill for other corporations and learned the political process, I knew that I could do it on my own,” said McGlowan.
Though poised to take the political world by storm, McGlowan’s road to success hasn’t always been a smooth one. In a predominantly liberal media, her conservative approach is often met with opposition. She takes it all in stride saying that she is willing to sit in debate with someone to help guide them to the light.
In 2007, McGlowan released her first book, Bamboozled, in an effort to change the public’s way of viewing the political media.
“That’s why I wrote my book,” she said. “A lot of us have been bamboozled by some of the things that we’ve seen on television which are smoke and mirrors.”
McGlowan interviewed over 60 democrats, republicans, conservatives and liberals on the record, and another 50 off the record for her book. The book holds information from historians and authors and contains over 400 endnotes.
McGlowan said all of her time and work is aimed at one goal – giving the American public the information and opportunity to make informed political decisions.
“Don’t vote for people just because of what you see on TV,” she said. “Vote for people because you read their message, you research their message and vote for them because you are informed. Vote because you know what this person has done for you to create a better America.”
Though she has traveled the globe and visited nearly every state in the U.S., McGlowan still misses Oxford and the South.
“I miss the hospitality, the kindness of the people, and I miss the Southern smiles,” she said. “That is like music to my ears. That’s like food for my soul.”
McGlowan, her husband John Venners, and their children Kayla and Remy live in Washington, D.C. She said that her life is dedicated to spreading her message for a better America and credits Ole Miss with guiding her in the right direction.
“I’m supposed to do what I’m doing right now, and Ole Miss helped me make that decision,” she said.
