Meghan Markle opened up during The New York Times‘ DealBook/Online Summit where she spoke about everything from her first business venture to calling senators about paid parental leave.
The Duchess of Sussex has been actively campaigning for Americans to have access to paid leave after welcoming a child, telling Andrew Ross Sorkin that supporting the cause isn’t a political one, but rather a “humanitarian issue.”
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“I think this is one of those issues that is not red or blue. We can all agree that people need support certainly when they’ve just had a child,” the mom of two said.
I have always said this “she is not new to this she is true to this” #MeghanMarkle has been fighting for women nonstop since she was at least 11 yrs old. When i see all these Johnny come lately try to discredit her i just laugh! Well done my Queen Meghan pic.twitter.com/EQU5UTxSjZ
— Bᴀᴅ Bᴇᴛᴄᴄᴄᴄʜʜʜʜ ᴇxᴛʀᴀᴏʀᴅɪɴᴀɪʀᴇ (@sussexsquadpod1) November 9, 2021
After filming in Canada for “Suits” for many years and then moving to London, it had been a long time since she lived in her home country.
“To come back and now be a mother of two and to see that the U.S. is one of only six countries in the entire world that doesn’t offer any form of national paid leave just didn’t make sense,” she said.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle Personally Calls U.S. Senators To Urge Them To Vote In Favour Of Paid Parental Leave
Last week, Meghan made headlines for cold calling senators with a blocked number where she spoke about paid leave for all.
“Yes, people are pretty surprised,” Meghan answered what the reaction to her calling is. “I think,” she added laughing.
The chat marks the 20th anniversary of Dealbook called “Minding The Gap”, which looked at how women can reach economic and professional equality.
Meghan also looked back at her first business venture of making scrunchies at “8 or 9.”
“I had my mom take me downtown to get scraps of fabric from the fabric stores, and sell them for like five for five bucks, who knows,” she said.
“I remember the feeling of knowing that I had done something, I had invested in myself and done this labour and been compensated for it,” she added.
“There’s a sense of pride that comes from that.”
