In his home in Fort Lauderdale, Michael Worley’s walls are lined with elegant, understated prints. Among them, a Barack Obama “Hope” poster, signed by the artist. Worley, SPA/BA ’12 (pictured, far right), a political strategist with a discerning eye, is after simplicity in his campaigns, something clean and striking. As he puts it, “Voters don’t have all day.” 

Last November, they turned out in Miami to elect a new mayor: Eileen Higgins. The first woman to lead the city and the first Democrat and non-Hispanic in nearly 30 years, Higgins is hard-driving, said Worley, whose firm, MDW Communications, managed her direct mail, digital ads, and social media. “She didn’t look like she belonged in Miami but definitely sounded like it.”

Higgins, who spent two decades in Latin America and speaks fluent Spanish, campaigned on affordable housing and improved transportation. “She understood the needs of the community better than anyone else,” Worley said. “We’re glad that so many voters saw the same leader that we saw in her, someone who truly cares.” Higgins is “pure Miami, through and through.”

As is Worley, who grew up in nearby Cooper City, Florida. A budding politico, he recalls visiting a campaign office at age 10. “I remember the stack of lawn signs, the smell of the ink, the paper.” It was thrilling. Worley joined the debate team in high school and worked as a photographer for the school paper.

In 2010, he moved to DC to study political science at American University. “I wanted to be closer to the action.” He took classes in lobbying and marveled at speakers, like Grover Norquist and William Kristol, who could hold an audience’s attention, keeping them silently, raptly enthralled. The experience, he said, was “remarkable.”

In a graphic design class, Worley met entrepreneurs who had started their own creative agencies. In his junior year, he decided to launch a communications firm of his own, one rooted in a lifetime of looking closely, listening intently.

Worley began cold emailing companies and offering his services as a contractor. Soon, he had a Rolodex of public broadcasting firms and local restaurants. That tenacity runs through his work today, a belief in the power of a compelling message, a clever turn of phrase to bring people together. “I hate the politics of nastiness, of anger,” Worley said. He’s after something buoyant, a slogan that’s “cheeky or memorable.”

Recently, Worley took a group of AU students to dinner to discuss their career aspirations. Some “knew exactly what they wanted to do and were eager to get there.” Others “were exploring [and] were there to listen, to ask questions.” He advised both to build relationships, to get to know the manager for whom they intern and the other students in their cohort. Those are the people who will broaden your worldview, he said, who will shape your life.

A catchy slogan is important, but, in the end, “politics is about people.”