Independent Women’s Forum is pleased to announce that Lauren Boebert, newly elected to serve Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, is the latest entry in our popular series of Champion Women profiles.

If you could design a member of Congress who would be the ideal representative of the grit and glory of the American worker, it would be Lauren Boebert, 33, who hails from Rifle, Colorado, where Boebert owns a restaurant called Shooters Grill (where the staff open-carries). Her husband, Jayson, works in the oil fields.

Speaking of firearms, Boebert has made headlines by her publicly stated desire to carry her trusty Glock on Capitol Hill. The media’s overwhelming focus on Boebert and her guns, however, overlooks what is really more important about her: her hard work, down-to-earth values, and a success story that will endear her to regular folks. She did not get her start in life in a fancy internship at a law office or think tank.

Lauren Boebert went to work for the local McDonald’s at the age of 15. At the age of 18, McDonald’s promoted her to manager. Boebert regards working at McDonald’s as transformative. For one thing, members of Boebert’s family had received welfare assistance, and working at McDonald’s changed Boebert’s views on that.

One thing is certain: Lauren Boebert will not be your typical Washington power player.

We know you will enjoy meeting the real woman behind the media’s gun-toting image of her.