Eliza Reid

But I was the First Lady of Iceland.

Iceland is the country closest in the world to closing the gender gap, although we are not there yet.

And even though we have a population of 400,000, we can punch above our weight in some things, including in this area.

And that to me was very important.

So I persisted.

I made sure I shook everybody's hand at all the receptions.

I spoke at events, I did speeches, I did many events alone, I continued my paid work that I was also doing, and I even ended up writing a book about gender equality and the women of Iceland.

And after my husband's two terms, or eight years, as president, I realized that even though I'd craved a manual or a rule book at the beginning,

A bit like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I came to the realization that just through living my life, I had accumulated all of the tools that I would need to make the most of that unexpected opportunity.

I realized that life is really just often a series of beautiful uncertainties.

I didn't change the world serving as First Lady.

but I hope that I did my part to nudge things in the right direction, to make the most of the beautiful opportunity I had been given, even if I didn't read the instructions first.

Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, and I had, so I had this bit of a taster of what I might be getting myself into, even before, you know, my husband had officially announced he was going to run for president, but when we were seriously considering it, because this

the stylist called our house because we had to do a brochure as you do with a happy photogenic family on the front to encourage people to vote for my husband.

And he said to me something like, how would you describe your personal style?

And I remember because, you know, I think I was like changing a diaper and I had my phone wedged underneath my ear and I'm trying to point to the kids to turn the television down and stop fighting with each other.

And he says, how's your personal style?

And I remember thinking, well, my maternity pants still fit really well.

And I last bought shoes five years ago or something.