Laurie Bendall ’99 carries a Birmingham-Southern flip wallet she bought on her first week of class. Yes, the one she picked up in the bookstore in 1995 for her meal card is the only wallet she uses.

And she says that’s not all she still carries from her time on the Hilltop.

Bendall’s beloved BSC flip wallet.

As the owner and president of Crimson Consulting, which she founded in 2007, Bendall says she draws daily on what she learned from her interdisciplinary studies major that combined in political science and sociology. She also carries with her what she learned during local and international E-Term experiences in her work in as a lobbyist and policy consultant.

Bendall has built relationships across party lines to connect American companies and organizations with members of Congress, and doing so takes a set of skills she gained from the BSC political science department. Her two favorite professors – Dr. Ed LaMonte and Dr. Bob Slagter – showed her how completely different approaches to teaching were both so enriching.

Bendall describes her role at Crimson Consulting as a bit like a Capitol Hill event planner, minus choosing menus, centerpieces, or dress codes. She sets up hundreds of meetings for her clients, booking up to 300 meetings for one day in hundreds of different offices (or, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoom calls.)

“I want you to be wowed by the Hill and to be thankful you took the time to walk the halls of the Capitol because you made an impact,” Bendall says. “That’s what the members really want.”

When she decided to open her own firm, she brought years of experience on the Hill and strong relationships that she’s been building since she graduated from BSC and went straight to an internship in the D.C. office of former U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.).

“One month on the Hill, and then I never left D.C.,” she says.

She went on to do a little bit of everything, including working as an in-house lobbyist for NASDAQ and starting a lobbying firm focused on copyright legislation in 2003. This role allowed her to work closely with the Motion Picture Association of America and the Recording Industry Association of America and create legislation to protect artists and their work.

Through Crimson Consulting, Bendall widened her range by representing clients like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. She learns about each of these companies and organizations, works with leadership to prepare them for meetings, and arranges their schedule while they are on the Hill.

“What I do is advocacy work,” Bendall says. “You have to have a deep motivation and level of organization and efficiency. I luckily I had those traits and study skills I learned from ’Southern. When I pivoted on my own, those stepping stones were already there – I was passionate, motivated, knew the industry, and had those relationships.”

Her classes and internships as a BSC student gave her real, meaningful experiences to prepare her for this advocacy work: She took Dr. LaMonte’s Civil Rights course soon after the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute opened its doors. She interned in the City of Hoover Mayor’s Office and confirmed her goal to work in public service. She was a founding co-captain of the BSC volleyball team. And, through a sociology course, she completed an E-Term project on the criminal justice system that allowed her to talk to facility guards and tour prisons in Alabama and Tennessee.

“I started to look beyond myself,” Bendall says. “I was vulnerable to learning new things and feeling new emotions, so that when I did come to D.C. and to a new world, I could communicate with people with respect.”

A crucial part of Bendall’s job is connecting people – a skill she gained from meeting people all over the world as part of her BSC education. During her senior year, she went to Vietnam and Thailand through an E-Term trip with Dr. Slagter that continued to bring her closer to different cultures, religions, and people. Bendall says this experience showed her that she needed to get out of Alabama after graduation and see more of the world.

Her network now includes her connections on the Hill, which help her plan meetings for her clients, but also with the organizations she serves. She often sees the direct impact her work has for communities, particularly through clients like the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“When you see a parent of someone who has cystic fibrosis making connections, and every year they get stronger, to the point where the parents invite the member to their child’s school – that’s when I’m really thankful for what I do,” Bendall says. “The relationships and connections continue outside the halls of Congress, back in the districts and the communities, and they will last a lifetime.”

After connecting government officials with organizations and leaders in their district, Bendall often hears back from members of Congress wanting to get back in touch with a certain family or representative. She’s helping present her clients as industry experts who can provide valued feedback. It’s the way politics and policy-making should always work, she says.

“I know I’ve done my job well when members are calling me to reconnect with a client,” Bendall says. “Everyone comes to Capitol Hill for a different reason. What that creates is opportunities to develop new relationships and to advocate for people who might not know how to advocate for themselves.”

This story was included in a special social sciences edition of From the Hilltop, Birmingham-Southern’s alumni email newsletter.

You can email [email protected] to get in touch with the Office of Alumni Engagement, learn about upcoming opportunities and events, and tell us more about you.