Nemesis Heartwell

Nemesis Catherine Nyx Heartwell (born November 1, 1988) is a Sierran bussinesswoman, television personality, philanthropist, and the freshman Senator from San Joaquin. Born and raised in Bernheim, San Joaquin, north side, Heartwell is the daughter of real estate tycoon Tim Heartwell, founder of Heartwell Properties and Investments.

After earning a bachelor's degree in hospitality from the University of Sierra, Bernheim in 2011, she took a leading position in her father's real estate company, leading its branch of hotels and resorts. After borrowing $1.5 million from her father, she successfully turned around the performance of The Major from a near-bankrupt venture to a thriving resort. She was then appointed President of HPI in 2013 at the age of 25, making her one of the youngest corporate executives in Sierra. As president, she gradually assumed control of the company from her ailing father, who was looking to retire, while expanding the Heartwell brand, acquiring properties in the United Commonwealth, Rainier, and elsewhere in the Anglosphere. In 2016, Tim Heartwell stepped down as chief executive officer of HPI, leaving Nemesis to succeed him.

In 2014, she co-produced and starred as the host of Sierran Scores, a reality television show that follows Heartwell as she assists struggling real estate projects.

After Daniel McComb announced his candidacy in the 2016 Prime Ministerial election, Heartwell stated her intention to run in the special election held to fill McComb's seat in the Senate (by law, McComb could not run for Prime Minister and Senate simultaneously). She ran on a platform many described as promoting 'Alt-Right' politics. She took a nationalist, anti-republican stance and made revitalizing San Joaquin's dilapidated inner cities (including her native Bernheim) a talking point during her rallies. Running as a Royalist, she defeated Democratic-Republican candidate Am Nguyen soundly by a margin of 5% on October 16. Upon her inauguration on December 16, 2016, she became the youngest Senator in Sierran history at 28 years, 45 days old.

Because of her wealth, success, and television presence, she has been referred as the " of Sierra". Her persona, one of a strong, commanding, no-nonsense, businesswoman has solidified that comparison.

Early life
Nemesis Catherine Nyx Heartwell was born on November 1, 1988 in Bernheim's north side to Amanda (neé Ambrosi) and Timothy Heartwell. She is the oldest of three children; her siblings are Tristan and Liza.

Childhood friends of Heartwell described her as a precocious child but with a "Near obsessive" desire to prove herself. At the age of 10, she privately expressed to a friend that she disliked being wealthy because no one properly recognized her abilities or accomplishments, always attributing them to her family's status. Thomas Lindfeld, a friend of Heartwell's in elementary school explains: "She wanted everyone to know she was capable. She detested when someone insinuated she only got where she is because of her father. It bothered her so much." Her self-esteem struggled in her youth largely due do this sentiment.

Her parents wished her to have a relatively normal upbringing and elected to send her to public schools. While she performed well, she lamented when teachers would give her special preference because of her family background as it led to minor bullying from other students and made it more difficult for her to conceal her wealth. She also often times felt isolated and without 'true' friends; she was never certain other students she associated with truly liked her, or were only befriending her for her money.

By the time she reached adolescence she learned to better cope with her insecurities. She was diagnosed with depression in 2004 (a fact she revealed in 2015) and began taking anti-depressants which improved her mood considerably. In a somber interview she gave in 2016, she described how she was plagued with suicidal thoughts prior to being prescribed medication: "It just made me feel so guilty. I am very privileged, I know that. Yet, I felt like I was nothing. But that's just it, you know? Depression doesn't care who you are. It will tell you these things, nasty things that aren't true."

Education


Heartwell began attending University of Sierra, Bernheim shortly after she graduated from El Dorado High School in 2007. She initially studied for economics but decided to switch to hospitality after she stayed a hotel owned by one of her friends. Heartwell became fascinated by the industry and wondered why her father's company had little involvement in it. During her 4-year attendance at USB, she took a job as a customer relations manager at the Pacific Peak Inn in neighboring Lodi, a few miles north of Bernheim.

She graduated from University of Sierra, Bernheim in 2011 summa cum laude.

The Major


Immediately after graduation, she requested and was granted a loan totaling $1.5 million from her father's company in order to start her own venture. She located a run-down resort called "The Major" which was built by its owners, Cheryl and Dale Scott in 1979. The resort brought in tourists from all over Sierra and abroad during its heyday but fell into decline as the Scotts aged. Their children had no interest in taking over the business and moved elsewhere to pursue different careers. Heartwell approached the Scotts and offered them $700,000 for the entire property. They accepted within one week and Heartwell assumed full ownership of the resort. Upon doing this, she immediately saw the reasons for its poor performance: lackadaisical upkeep, under staffing, outdated room design, and poor employee morale. Working on a budget, she fired most of the staff she believed had "No passion" for their job and replaced them with skilled, competent workers at a higher wage. She hired a design company to renovate the resort's 200 rooms, a project that took 18 months to fully complete. She saved money by working on a minimalist design that proved popular and by the first year under her ownership, the resort's revenue increased by 35%; she was still not turning a profit, however.

In order to increase occupancy, she launched an extensive marketing campaign and enlisted the help of two marketing companies with whom she consulted. The campaign was successful in bringing in more guests and the hotel's online reputation improved significantly. Heartwell considered renaming the resort in order to further distance itself from it past under previous ownership, but ultimately decided to keep the name in order to retain customer recognition.

By 2013, The Major was turning a profit and Heartwell delegated day-to-day management to colleague Sarah Davenport.

President of HPI


Impressed by her feat, Heartwell's father appointed her as President of the family company, Heartwell Properties and Investments in 2013. Heartwell was originally not intended to be the heir and successor to the company as both her parents did not believe she was capable nor interested. Instead, Heartwell's maternal uncle, Gerald Foster, was the heir-apparent until 2013. When Foster was passed over for the president's position, it created a fallout between him and the rest of the Heartwell family. HPI's board of directors were also skeptical, despite Heartwell's success with The Major. This severely affected her ability to execute her duties as president of the company, and Heartwell often found herself appealing to her father in order to compel board members to cooperate.

Nevertheless, she spearheaded an expansion of the Heartwell brand, authorizing acquisitions of properties located mostly within Sierra. The vast majority of these properties were hotels and resorts. Unlike The Major, these properties were not lagging and were in fact very profitable ventures that Heartwell wanted to bring under one corporate umbrella.

CEO and future developments
With his health declining, Tim Heartwell elected to step down as CEO of HPI, leaving his daughter to succeed him. She assumed the role of chief executive officer on March 18, 2016. As CEO, she has continued HPI's reorganization as a hospitality company while remaining committed to its other investments and ventures. In June 2016, it expanded its horizons and struck a deal with tech start-up Fyre Inc. to invest $45.1 million into the company over a period of three years.

Philanthropy and charitable works


Later in 2016, Heartwell launched the Heartwell Charitable Foundation, a non-profit which seeks to provide relief, counseling, and shelter for victims of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and personal crisis support. The foundation places an emphasis on serving all persons of both genders; its mission statement explains "Domestic abuse and sexual assault are not just women's issues. Men can and are affected by these crimes as well. We work to assist both men and women through troubling experiences." The group has been praised by men's rights activists for bringing attention to male victims of abuse. Besides direct assistance, it also works with and provides funding for similar groups.

Nicole Everyson was appointed as the foundation's chair. Over $150 million has been raised and donated to advance the foundation's goal, over half of which was donated by Heartwell herself.

Legal affairs
Heartwell has been the plaintiff and defendant in numerous civil suits. In 2014, Heartwell was sued by Jon Moriarty, former directions manager at The Major, alleging that Heartwell failed to pay a severance package as agreed on in Moriarty's employment contract. Heartwell and her attorneys declined to comment on the case and the matter was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

Net worth
Forbes listed Heartwell's net worth to be around $560 million in 2015. Other sources agree with this figure and tax information disclosed during Heartwell's senate campaign corroborate as well.

Sierran Scores
In 2014, Heartwell co-produced and starred as the host of Sierran Scores, a docu-reality show that features Heartwell assisting struggling properties, usually hotels and resorts but occasionally apartments and other leased property.

Due to Heartwell's schedule, the host role was given to TV personality Ryan Cobalt with Heartwell occasionally making appearances.

Political career
Before 2016, Heartwell spoke little on politics and on the rare occasion she did, she took a independent stance. After Daniel McComb announced his candidacy for the office of Prime Minister, Heartwell announced her candidacy for Senate after previously hinting at such a campaign. She promptly joined the Royalist Party, having been an independent until then.

As the election approached, she became very outspoken and took more definitive stances on various issues. In early-October, she opined a piece outlining her staunch support of the monarchy, describing it as a "Force for national unity." In the same piece, she also harshly criticized Mexico and suggested that Mexicans in Sierra be "registered" in the interest of national security. She is a supporter of Sierran expansion for which she has been called an "imperialist" and a "nationalist", terms she has embraced. Five days before the 2016 Prime Ministerial election, Heartwell joined conservative journalist and pundit Emil Alexandrescu at the University of Sierra, Riverside as part of Alexandrescu's The Deplorable Romanian tour where she spoke about the importance of free speech and denounced the "rampant PC, offendotron, cuckold, and plain jebbish" culture she perceives as being encouraged on Sierran campuses.

Senate election


Heartwell faced Democratic-Republican candidate Am Nguyen, who built her campaign around being a more moderate and 'sensible' choice compared to Heartwell. She highlighted Heartwell's lack of political experience, and asserted at various times that her position at HPI would create a conflict-of-interest. In response, Heartwell stated that if elected, she would take a more backseat role in her company, focusing most of her attention on the Senate. She declined to answer if she would step down as CEO when asked by Vanguard author Emma Forstein.

While Heartwell always kept a lead in the polls, she was challenged many times by Nguyen, who was attempting to revive the Democratic-Republican coalition that historically dominated San Joaquin. McComb's tenure ignited a Royalist revolution that the Democratic-Republicans have struggled to recover from. Heartwell relied on this heavily to secure her victory.

Heartwell was elected on October 16, 2016 by a margin of 5%, outperforming expectations. Columnist David Sinclair wrote that "[e]ven despite being an outsider with no involvement of politics, the safe margin by which she won sent a message to the Sierran establishment: the Alt-Right is here, get used to it."

Controversies


Since her entry into politics, Heartwell has been involved in several controversies. On October 27, 2016, Heartwell was asked of her opinion on alt-right satirist and leader of the Remove Kebab Party Trevor XI and said of him "[Trevor] is a great man. He's done a lot for the movement and, well, I respect him a lot". Liberal pundit and host of talk show The Truthy Show Steven Seinfeld said it was "Not surprising" Heartwell would support Trevor because "...her name is fucking 'Nemesis' for crying out loud".

In that same month, she became involved in a feud with rapper Jermaine Williams (known professionally as Q-Lo) on Twitter when Willams said "The Styxie is doomed" and asserted Heartwell's election was the fault of "Dumb white people." Although he deleted the tweet within an hour, Heartwell noticed it and responded on her own account saying "I saw that! Another leftie shows his true colors as a hateful bigot! Very sad!" Williams took exception to Heartwell's response and called her a "crazy bitch" and said he was the "VOICE of the PEOPLE". Heartwell quipped "Apparently not because they voted for me!". Q-Lo then resolved to challenge Heartwell in 2020 on his Facebook page where he officially announced his "candidacy" for Senate.

In November 2016, celebrity chef Wendall Yamada mentioned Heartwell in an interview stating "The version of 'me' you see on television would have voted for someone like Nemesis Heartwell, no questions asked. If he would have done it, you know she's bad." In response, Heartwell commented "His attitude is as bad as his food. I mean, rat meat? Nasty man. What a jeb."

Antisemitic tape
In 2016, a secretly-recorded audio tape was released by an anonymous source which appears to show Heartwell making various antisemitic comments to an unknown person.

"Heartwell: "I-I don't understand why its always a Jew at the center of these things. Any sort of, uh, controversy, or, you know...social disturbance...

Unknown person: -interupts- Right...

Heartwell: ...I mean, every fucking time. A Jew. Never fails. I, know I sound like fucking Hitler, right now -laughs-

Unknown person: Oh, no. I get it, yeah -laughs-"

Heartwell responded to the tape, briefly stating "Yeah, I said those things. I don't regret it." She has declined to comment further.

Critical reception
Since her entry into politics, she has been criticized by prominent officials, community leaders, and even celebrities. Statements have been issued against her, labeling her a racist, imperialist, a member of the alt-right, and a bigot. She rejects all of these terms except for 'alt-right'. Allison Perry, when asked her opinions on Heartwell, said "..she is quite the character. I'm not sure her message is something that represents the people of San Joaquin". Nevertheless, Perry phoned Heartwell the night of her election to congratulate her. Heartwell on Twitter said Perry was a "Great woman."

In a piece written by Scott McConnor and published by Vanguard, McConnor describes her reception: "Never before in Sierra have I seen such a disparity between public and establishment opinion" noting how many celebrities have denounced Heartwell despite her winning by nearly 5%. McConnor continues "...to me, this tells of how the upper elite, the people who are supposed to represent us, truly do not understand their constituents, the people who made them what they are. And this is coming from someone who voted for Ngyuen".

Political positions


Heartwell's positions on politics have evolved from generally centrist to moderately conservative. She has been described as an alt-right politician, an assertion she does not disagree with. She has been accused racist views, especially after her feud with rapper Q-Lo, where on Twitter she referred to him as a "Gangsta wannabe". Imperialism is another accusation that has been lodged against Heartwell and one she does not necessarily dispute. In 2016, when asked if Sierra should attempt to expand eastward, Heartwell responded "If it can be done peacefully, absolutely."

Social issues
Heartwell has described herself as "Absolutely pro-life". She holds a 100% rating from the Sierran National Right to Life Foundation and a 0% from Planned Parenthood Sierra. SNRLF praised her as "Authentically pro-woman, pro-child, and pro-human rights. She is definitely our choice for the KS Senate" whereas PP denounced her as "A disaster for women's rights" who has "Thrown other women under the bus in a quest for power." During her campaign, she promised to introduce legislation that would increase the "Transparency and oversight" of clinics that perform abortions and remarked how "Liberals love regulations except when it comes to abortion."

Heartwell supports same-sex marriage and said she would "Strongly resist" attempts to overturn legalization in San Joaquin.

She supports the decriminalization of marijuana as a step forward to full legalization and has promised to press for lesser sentencing in drug offenses. She wishes to re-orient the justice system to focus on rehabilitation of drug offenders rather than incarceration while conceding "For some of them, the drugs are just the excuse, to commit violence."

Economics
Heartwell, like most of her fellow Royalists, supports free-market economics. She believes excessive regulation has reduced the amount of jobs in San Joaquin and elsewhere in the Styxie and supports reforms to simplify regulation codes to make it easier for business owners to comply. On taxation, she supports tax plans that do not "Directly hurt" the middle class. She has proposed lowering the personal income tax while increasing the sales tax in San Joaquin.

On trade, Heartwell supports "fair" trade agreements and has criticized the national government for not taking blue-collar workers into account when negotiating trade deals.

On healthcare, Heartwell supports the current single-payer plan in place in Sierra. She supports the existence of private healthcare insurance providers as an "alternative" to the publicly funded option but believes the state should provide "Some baseline" of insurance to all citizens.

Climate change
Heartwell has stated she believes in the existence of anthroprogenic climate change but has criticized the "Incessant fearmongering" surrounding it. She is skeptical of what she refers to as "Doomsday prophecies" such as the flooding of coastal cities due to rising sea levels. She is also opposed to "Mindless" regulations meant to combat ACC.

Foreign policy


Heartwell stated she did not have a comprehensive foreign policy in place and would support the McComb administration in "All of his foreign policy actions."

Republicanism
Heartwell's views towards republicanism are complex. According to Heartwell, she is not so much opposed to the idea of republicanism itself, but the greater ideology that republicans in Sierra represent. She has described them as "Anti-authority jebs whose futile attempts at rebellion are being legitimized in our political sphere" and she holds disdain for their "Relentless attacks on our country's traditions." If they were to shed these attitudes, Heartwell explains, she would not be so opposed to abolition of the monarchy but as of now fears that doing so would "De-legitimize the state and encourage lawlessness and disorder."

Pawnee earthquake
In response to the 2017 Pawnee earthquake, Heartwell issued a formal statement from her senate office saying the disaster was "Immensely tragic" and that she was "grief stricken." Full statement

Personal life


Heartwell has lived with longtime partner Durant Colder since 2012 and they were 'spiritually married' in 2015. The two met while attending the University of Sierra, Bernheim. Colder was studying accounting and took an interest in Heartwell's business savvy. Colder is the regional manager of Moreland Fashion's Southern Sierra division.

Religiously, Heartwell has described herself as a 'lapsed Canaanist'; she elaborates: "I believe in God, of course. I just, uh, don't see the point of prayer and all that, you know? I think if you're a good person, God will notice. He doesn't need to be, uh, reminded."

Heartwell is involved in many athletic pursuits including golf, tennis, and soccer. She abstains from alcohol out of personal taste and because of a family history of alcoholism. In 2015, she revealed that she suffers from depression and has been taking medication for it since adolescence.