KUTV - Person 2 Person: Mia Love

News Article

By Maren Jensen

Representative Mia Love represents Utah's 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

She was born in Brooklyn, New York to Haitian parents, who came to the U.S. from Haiti in the 1970s.

"They had to leave a land that they know very well," Love said. "They leave family members and friends that they know and go into the unknown."

Love learned a lot of important lessons from her parents. "I wasn't entitled to anything," she said. "If I didn't own it, earn it, work for it, or pay for it myself, then it wasn't mine."

Although Rep. Love is known for her career in politics, she had never intended to get into that field. At one point in her life she worked as a flight attendant and had aspirations for Broadway.

"I always say this is not what I wanted to do when I grow up," she said. She says joining Saratoga Springs' city council wasn't even something she sought after. "There were people who recruited me into this mess," Love laughed.

Despite that, she loves the policy portions of politics and the aspects where she can make a difference.

"I feel like this is something I'm supposed to do," she said. "If I can make a difference and make a difference for my children and for Utah, then yes, I better stand up and do it."

Of all her accomplishments, Love is most proud of being a mom to her three children, whom she has with her husband, Jason Love.

"I'm proud of of being a black female out of the state of Utah that's raising my children to be a patriot, to love this country, and love this state," she said.

Love says many people just look at the negative aspects of her job when it comes to her family.

"They don't see the positive in this, that I'm actually leading by example and saying, 'Look, I'm out there, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we leave a more prosperous country, a better country.'" she said.

Love does all she can to stay connected with her kids as does her job in Washington, D.C.

"I think the most important thing is making sure that the time you have is really quality time," she said.

Every night she is in D.C., she FaceTimes each of her kids to talk about what's going on in their life.

"I find out more about their day than I did when I was here, " Love laughed.

She and her husband make sure that family comes first, no matter what.

"This is a family journey," she said. "This is not just my journey."

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