LEADERS.
>> BASICAL SWAMPLAND AND M GRANDFATHER BUILT THIS, WHICH
WAS UNHEARD OF, IT WAS A 3 STORY BUILDING RIGHT THERE ON VETERA
AND CAUSEWAY.
SULA: WHEN YOU WALK INTO CYNTHIA LEE SHENG’S OFFICE IN THE JOE
YENNI BUILDING, YOUR EYES ARE EASILY ARE DRAWN TO THE ICONIC
PHOTOS THAT DECORATE THE WALLS AND SHELVES.
SHE PROUDLY GRABS ONE OF THE OLDEST PICTURES, HER
GRANDFATHER’S RESTAURANT, THE HOUSE OF LEE WHICH FIRST OPENED
IN 1959.
A LOT OF PEOPLE IN OUR AREA, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST TASTE OF
CHINESE FOOD.
HE CAME HERE AS AN IMMIGRANT, NOT SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE AND
WAS A BUSINESSMAN.
SULA: FROM AN IMMIGRANT FAMILY WHO CAME TO AMERICA IN 1917, TO
PRESIDENT OF JEFFERSON PARISH IN 2021.
[APPLAUSE] CYNTHIA LEE SHENG KNOWS, BY ALL
ACCOUNTS, THAT SHE IS A PIONEER.
>> IT CERTAINLY WAS A HISTORIC EVENT ON THE NIGHT I GOT
ELECTED.
SULA: BUT MAKING HISTORY WASN’T QUITE ON HER MIND WHEN SHE
DECIDED TO RUN FOR OFFICE.
>> I LOVE THE WORK, THE WORK IS WHAT GIVES ME ENERGY.
SULA: IT WAS HER LOVE FOR THE COMMUNITY THAT MOTIVATED THIS
PROGRESSIVE LEADER SHE SAYS WHEN YOU’RE PASSIONATE
ABOUT SOMETHING, YOU WILL NATURALLY BUILD A LEGACY.
>> THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON T CAMPAIGN TRAIL WHO SAID, "YOU
WOULD BE THE FIRST WOMAN PARISH," PRESIDENT OF JEFFERSON
PARISH AND I SAW IT THROUGH THEIR EYES MORE THAN MY OWN.
SULA: BECAUSE, YOU SEE, IN HER EYES, THERE’S JUST A LOT OF WORK
TO DO, AND THAT’S ALWAYS BEEN HER FOCUS.
SO SHE DOESN’T LET DISTRACTIONS GET IN THE WAY.
>> I’M NOT LOOKING FOR DISCRIMINATION, I’M NOT LOOKING
FOR, I JUST KEEP MOVING ON SULA: IT’S ONE OF MANY LIFE
LESSONS SHE LEARNED FROM HER LATE FATHER, SHERIFF HARRY LEE.
MY DAD PUT UP THE FLAG ON THE CAUSEWAY.
WE HAVE AN ANNIVERSARY FOR THAT FLAG.
SULA: THE POPULAR SHERIFF WAS RE-ELECTED 6 TIMES, HAVING
SERVED 28 YEARS IN JEFFERSON PARISH.
KNOWN FOR BEING LARGER THAN LIFE, HE DIED OF LEUKEMIA IN
2007.
>> HE JUST THREW HIS BIG ARMS AROUND EVERYBODY AND JUST MESHED
THEM ALL TOGETHER, AND HE REALLY ENHANCED A LOT OF PEOPLE’
LIVES.
THE LAST SIX MONTHS OF HIS LIFE WHEN HE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH
LEUKEMIA, HE MOST INSPIRED ME, AND HOW BRAVE HE WAS IN FACING
THE LAST CHAPTER OF HIS LIFE, AND IT KNOCKED MY SOCKS OFF,
JUST HIS BRAVERY SULA: 7 YEARS LATER, THIS SINGLE
MOTHER OF TWO WOULD NEED THAT BRAVERY WHEN HER HUSBAND STEWART
SHENG DIED OF A HEART ATTACK AT THE AGE OF 47.
>> IT WAS EARTH SHATTERING.
IT WAS THE WORST TIME OF MY LIFE.
WHEN YOU FIRST BECOME A WIDOW, LIFE IS SO DARK AND SO EXTREME,
YOU DON’T EVER THINK YOU’LL SEE A WAY OUT OF I
WHAT I ALWAYS SAY TO NEW WIDOWS IS, LOOK AT ME, IT’S NOT ALWAYS
THIS DARK, LOOK AT MY KIDS, YO WILL SURVIVE.
SULA: HER KIDS ARE NOW IN COLLEGE AT LSU.
GAVIN IS 21, AND MIRANDA IS 18.
>> I’M MOST PROUD OF MY CHILDREN, AND THAT WE HAD SUCH A
TRAGEDY IN OUR LIVES.
I’M PROUD OF THE FACT THAT I L THEM SEE ME CRY, I LET THEM SEE
ME AT MY LOWEST POINT.
SULA: SHE WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE WIDOWS, MOTHERS, AND
YOUNG WOMEN THAT LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS PERFECT
THERE ARE GOOD TIMES AND B TIMES, SO LIVE YOUR DREAM AND
GRAB AHOLD OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY.
>> DON’T WAIT FOR PERMISSION TO BLOSSOM, JUST BLOSSOM, THAT’S
WHAT I WOULD SAY TO A YOUNG GIRL.
SULA: AND THIS PICTURE OF SHENG AS A YOUNG GIRL IS ONE THAT
STANDS OUT THE MOST IN HER OFFICE
>> THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST CAMPAIGN IN 1979.
SULA: A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST FOR THIS FORWARD-THINKING LEADER, A
VISIONARY WHO HOPES HER LEGA IS ONE OF PROGRESS, AND A BETTER
TOMORROW FOR WOMEN OF ALL AGES.
THIS NEXT GENERATION, I LOOK AT MY DAUGHTER’S GENERATION, I’M
SO EXCITED FOR THEM, THE WAY THEY APPROACH THINGS IS THAT
THEY CAN DO AN