November 5, 2026
In this episode of insideABODE, host Dave Jones revisits a conversation from the archive.🔁 A re-release. Originally recorded in 2020.Devin Hampton went to Peninsula High with Dave. He dropped out of UW after a year, threw bags at Alaska Airlines for five years, and got laid off at 25. Not long after, he was on the road with Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.He walks Dave through how it actually happened: teaching himself wine to land a job running a Queen Anne wine bar, asking customers if they knew anyone on the Obama campaign, a volunteer gig on a Seattle City Council race, Governor Gregoire's re-election, and a tryout in Oregon that turned into a full-time offer and a plane ticket for the next morning. Then election night in Chicago: riding in a cargo van in the first motorcade as every police officer and firefighter on the route turned around and saluted.After the campaign, Devin joined the Department of Energy, worked alongside Nobel Prize–winning physicist Steven Chu, and finished the administration as chief of staff of a federal agency. Now he's in Oakland building software that unlocks energy data for batteries and solar. He and Dave also compare Bay Area housing pressure with Pierce County, including Tacoma's then-new ADU rules.Recorded in 2020. Prices and rules mentioned are from then.CHAPTERS
0:00 Why we're re-releasing this conversation
0:22 Meet Devin Hampton
2:08 Laid off at 25, then a Queen Anne wine bar
4:06 Growing up in a political house
8:19 Seattle City Hall to Governor Gregoire's campaign
9:29 Advance work and the call from the Obama campaign
12:29 On the road with the campaign
14:07 Election night 2008: the motorcade
16:19 Looking back from 2020
18:50 The Department of Energy and Steven Chu
20:54 Startup life: building the Visa of energy data
22:40 How energy data gets batteries and solar built
27:43 Oakland vs. Tacoma housing
33:21 Tacoma's new ADU rules
34:58 Wrap-up🏡 Looking to buy, sell, or just talk Pierce County real estate?
Visit Windermere Abode at www.windermereabode.com — Tacoma's local brokerage with agents who actually know this market.#InsideAbode #Tacoma #PierceCounty #WindermereAbode #PNW #Obama2008 #ElectionNight #CleanEnergy #TacomaStories📲 FOLLOW & CONNECT:📸 Follow us on Instagram → @windermereabode
🌐 Visit us online → windermereabode.com
😍 Go crush on a house → abodecrush.com
🏠 Read more on fair housing → tacomafairhousing.com
▶️ Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Tacoma real estate
🎙️ Listen to the insideABODE Podcast on all podcast streaming platforms