In this episode, host Lorie Jones sits down with Beth Hatcher, principal and CEO of Beth Interactive, for an inspiring and honest conversation about building confidence, embracing creativity in unexpected places, and navigating the delicate balance between celebrating your own wins and uplifting your team.
Beth shares her unconventional journey from studying poetry and French to leading a thriving digital healthcare philanthropy agency. She opens up about learning to trust her own expertise, the lessons she’s gained from both good and bad advice, and the ongoing challenge of juggling family, ambition, and self-worth. Together, Lorie and Beth discuss what it really means to be a team player, the realities of imposter syndrome, and the importance of building a supportive network.
Whether you’re at the start of your career, transitioning into leadership, or simply seeking a boost of inspiration, Beth’s candid insights and actionable advice are sure to empower you on your own fearless path.
Show Highlights:
- We’d love to have you join the conversation. [01:33]
- The power of storytelling with data and numbers. [02:39]
- Discover the innovative dimension creative origins can bring to technical roles. [05:08]
- How to build confidence through experience. [15:56]
- What being a team player isn’t and why it matters. [19:23]
- Reflections on the working mom dilemma, with a study-backed silver lining. [23:53]
- The importance of trusting in and stretching raw skills for first-time projects. [26:15]
- Essential career growth advice for aspiring professionals. [28:57]
- Explore the idea of loving what you do with the concept of ikigai. [36:25]
If you enjoyed this episode, please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a review!
For more information about Lorie Jones, go to https://fearlessfinancialadvisors.com/fearless-females.
00:02.29
Lorie Jones
Good morning. Today we are with Beth Hatcher. She's the principal and CEO of Beth Interactive. And I'm so excited that she's talking with us today. She said she's got a warm day in Chicago and it's ah it's March when we're recording this. So that's super exciting for all of us.
00:20.47
Lorie Jones
Thank you so much for doing this, Beth. I appreciate it.
00:23.24
Beth Hatcher
Oh, thank you, Laurie. It's an honor to be here.
00:26.21
Lorie Jones
So let's get started with my favorite question, which is I'm a reader, love books, Every kind. What's your favorite book?
00:35.92
Beth Hatcher
Well, unfortunately, i don't i don't have an awful lot of time to read. And maybe another way of saying that is I don't prioritize reading for myself between my company and my six-year-old, nine-year-old daughters. We are very busy.
00:49.42
Beth Hatcher
um But there are two books, you know, i was thinking about this. There are two books that I keep coming back to over and over again. And they're both by Malcolm Gladwell, who's a Canadian author and publisher. And the two I keep coming back to are David and Goliath and The Tipping Point.
01:03.75
Beth Hatcher
And what I love about what Malcolm Gladwell does is he takes data and science, but spins it into storytelling. So referencing facts about, in the case of the tipping point, how an idea sparks and tips and becomes viral.
01:17.02
Beth Hatcher
And in the case of David and the Goliath, it's about how it's the art of battling giants, right? and how Advantages can become disadvantages and vice versa. And every time I read those books, it gives me new inspiration and ideas for how to share my own storytelling, how to navigate my own, like turning numbers into stories, but also ideas for my business and my life. It always just gives me these nuggets of new opportunities and new ways to think about things that just always keep inspiring me. So you may already have those on your on your list so far.
01:51.26
Lorie Jones
I don't think they've been recommended yet. And that's really intriguing, the idea of telling a story because I, i you know, work in numbers a lot and other people don't find them as interesting as I do, I guess.
02:06.90
Lorie Jones
so So telling a story, though, that does resonate with people. It kind of does. it And it sticks with me longer, too, if I've heard something in in a story form that's so interesting. I'll have to check those out.
02:18.80
Beth Hatcher
Yeah, they're, they're highly recommend them. They're really fun and they're, they're engaging too, right? I mean, yes, you work in numbers, we work with numbers, but it is that, that art and science of how to take and how to tell the right amount of data. But you also know that you can take statistics and kind of manipulate them any which way. So there's a lot of, you know, validating and justification of the numbers as well, which I really appreciate, but using those tidbits of data to tell the bigger story.
02:45.44
Beth Hatcher
you you know, we, we do storytelling all the time, but especially younger generations, millennials and Gen X are really looking for transparency and an understanding of what those numbers mean. So I think there's just that really fabulous art and science balance between those two pieces. So anyway, you'll have to tell me if you get a chance to read them what you think.
03:01.64
Lorie Jones
All right, I will. it's ah it's at the It's at the bottom of my pile and my pile is that big. so
03:08.01
Beth Hatcher
I bet.
03:08.07
Lorie Jones
So it may be a little while, but I definitely will get with you as soon as I finish it.
03:08.63
Beth Hatcher
Amazing.
03:12.97
Lorie Jones
So tell me a little bit about yourself, ah Beth. Tell me about your journey. Like, where did you get started? How did you get where you're at? What do you do now? Just tell me a little bit about Beth.
03:23.26
Beth Hatcher
So thanks, Lori. it's such it's It's a funny journey. i never I never expected if you had asked me as my 20-year-old version of myself where I would be, i I don't think I would have believed you.
03:34.71
Beth Hatcher
um I went to Northwestern University and my two majors were French and poetry. I actually studied to be a poet. That was my entire senior year was training to be a poet And when I graduated, I thought i was going to go back and get my MFA. I was going to become a writer. And so I was pursuing, you know, do I go into academia? Do I go into publishing? But I knew I needed to get a job.
03:58.24
Beth Hatcher
And my first job out of school was at an advertising agency here in Chicago, um, that a woman that I had studied abroad in Paris with worked at. So she helped me get the job. And my first client was a local hospital here in Chicago.
04:12.02
Beth Hatcher
And I didn't know anything about healthcare marketing, but spent a year running their account and eventually left that job, worked at another position where I met my husband, taught myself HTML, and then got a job back at that hospital running their website.
04:27.02
Beth Hatcher
So from there, I built out HTML expertise, digital marketing expertise, and then leveraged that into running digital marketing for a hospital and sort of like establish this healthcare care marketing expertise.
04:39.35
Beth Hatcher
And then in 2010, my husband got the opportunity to get a job in Germany. And we both had the bug to go back abroad. We didn't have kids at the time. And i asked my boss, you know, all the work I'm doing is digital.
04:51.40
Beth Hatcher
um Is there an opportunity for me to do this job from seven hours away in Germany? And the answer was, well, no, but if you became a vendor, you could. And that's actually how Beth Interactive got started.
05:02.57
Beth Hatcher
Frankly, kind of on a whim. I was doing a little bit of side client consulting work. um But in 2010, actually 15 years ago, this July, we i started Beth Interactive. And the first three years were in Germany, literally working from a dining room table with clients back in the U.S. s doing healthcare marketing, which then turned into healthcare fundraising.
05:22.65
Beth Hatcher
And then as I moved back and started hiring team members, we've we've grown in terms of our work in healthcare care fundraising to be an agency that really specializes in healthcare care and other nonprofit fundraising.
05:26.29
Lorie Jones
you
05:35.31
Beth Hatcher
Our team is now about 20 people. where We have clients across the country. We have team members across the country. I'm able to present on this work across the country. um So it's been...
05:48.00
Beth Hatcher
An incredible and serendipitous journey. I never thought I would be an entrepreneur. I never thought that I would be running an agency. I really thought I was going to be writing poetry um back in the day, but but here we are. And it's been an incredibly gratifying, rewarding, and challenging journey. But that's a little bit of my background about how I got here.
06:08.95
Lorie Jones
Oh, I love that. That is a really, it's a really interesting journey. um You went from poetry to coding HTML. I mean, like, like, did you find,
06:22.96
Lorie Jones
Did you know this was your, when you, as soon as you got into like the, the marketing era area, did you like, are you like, oh, this was my calling. I was never meant to be a poet or did it take a while and you're still like, oh, I'm going to go back and get my degree.
06:38.24
Beth Hatcher
You know, it did take a while. um i I thought that, I always thought that I would go back and get my MFA, that I owed it to myself to do that.
06:48.95
Beth Hatcher
um And I struggled with a while, for for quite a while, with having been so creative and thinking that my path was going to be ah creative path. um But then ultimately learning that running a company. And I find the point is I find creativity in new ways now. I find creativity in building a campaign to raise money for our clients or creativity in approaching a conference and figuring out who am I going to meet with and what are we going to be talking about?
07:18.00
Beth Hatcher
um I find creativity in the problem solving of really unique challenges that we haven't necessarily encountered before.
07:21.52
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
07:27.41
Beth Hatcher
um so I'm sorry if I'm not answering the question specifically, but yes, the the change from from that creativity to HTML, but I'm really, I'm glad that I learned the fundamentals of marketing and fundraising, right? i I learned the skills of how to build emails and code websites because that gave me that basis and understanding to grow deeper into the craft and then start to lift higher up into the craft and an understanding of how how all the pieces fit towards the whole.
07:55.85
Beth Hatcher
So I think that's made me a stronger leader and a stronger manager.
08:01.25
Lorie Jones
Yeah, a lot of times you'll find that if you know how they build on each other, you you have a better idea of how the whole thing works. And and i i like that idea.
08:12.80
Lorie Jones
um i think that's i think it's interesting what you were saying just about having creativity because I find that even in finance, like I need that creative outlet or that creative side of me.
08:24.33
Lorie Jones
that um likes just a little bit of pink, that likes like doing a little bit of a and of something fun and isn't complete spreadsheets. Like sometimes you'll see my spreadsheets are jazzed up or something. They've got a little bit of color in them.
08:39.99
Beth Hatcher
I love that.
08:40.07
Lorie Jones
But that i idea they there that we're more than just one thing, that we're more than just, you know, one piece of our career, but we need a lot of different things to kind of make us whole and and fulfill us, right?
08:56.18
Beth Hatcher
Yeah, I love that. And I think too, you know i always thought that you could either be of a strategic mind or an operationally focused mind, right? You either like the big picture or you like to do the logistics.
09:08.65
Beth Hatcher
And I feel like I started my career in that logistics, you know, task, project management, but but but you know, you get it done. But i I can do both now, which I find actually really rejuvenating and understanding how both sides of the equation works. I think it makes me stronger at both of those occasions.
09:24.11
Beth Hatcher
But I think you're absolutely right, knowing that you can't just look at a ton of numbers and expect people to see the same things that you see.
09:26.42
Lorie Jones
Thank you.
09:31.23
Beth Hatcher
There is that kind of art and creativity that comes into, frankly, communicating and expressing yourself and kind of sidebarring back to your question of, did i did I think I was going to be a poet? Like, what did I think I was going to do with a French degree, right?
09:46.19
Beth Hatcher
And I just, I've spoken French since I was 13, and I love it. It's a huge, passionate part of my life. My kids go to a French immersion school, so we have this French part of our culture. But honestly, knowing how to speak a second, and then when we were in Germany, a third language, you can't communicate the way you want to communicate to anyone.
10:04.26
Beth Hatcher
You can't make jokes at first, you can't express yourself. And so what I learned actually through speaking those other languages is how to communicate simply to get your point across and how to translate experiences for different audiences. You know, if somebody isn't really picking up what you're putting down, you take a step back, you try a different angle and you try to make those connections with them.
10:24.56
Beth Hatcher
So anyway, just some of those lived experiences that are bizarre parts of my past that really have become applicable parts of um how I run my dayto- day to day.
10:33.89
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I love that idea that that you can take those pieces as as simple as trying to speak another language or communicate in another language and and work them into your your business and your life and see the connections there. I think that's so great.
10:50.40
Lorie Jones
So tell me, Beth, is there an investment that you've made along this journey in yourself that you were like, oh my goodness, I am so glad I did that because I just, I wouldn't be who I am today without that.
11:05.01
Beth Hatcher
That is a really challenging question. I'm not quite sure why. i think one of the biggest investments, you know, our company had a couple of really critical kind of turning points, but this is, this is not about a company. This is about me. um I think when I, I learned to trust my own expertise, when I learned to trust myself, you know, i'm not sure if it's being a woman or being young, you know, I started
11:26.36
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
11:31.37
Beth Hatcher
I started the company at 27. I started my career at 21. I was young. I looked young. um And I didn't have a lot of experience. And you learn not to trust yourself pretty quickly, right?
11:43.74
Beth Hatcher
And I think over the years, especially, you know, 10 years, 15 years into this career, it's like when those things start to click together, where when the things you're thinking about start to be what you're reading that other folks are putting out into the industry, and then you start to have those conversations with people and they're like, that's what I was thinking about, or that's what I need.
12:02.91
Beth Hatcher
When you start to feel that you're like reading The tea leaves a little bit or seeing between the lines and seeing what what kind of the universe is telling you. I realized that I have that. have that in myself. I have this experience and the expertise.
12:17.12
Beth Hatcher
I've encountered a lot of challenges work wise and personally. I've come through them. And so I have that trust in myself now. that I can do it.
12:24.61
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
12:27.09
Beth Hatcher
And I built a team that I believe in that can do it. um And so that that just kind of is sort of a, it's it's not an aha moment, but it's sort of a slow burn a little bit where ah became slowly more and more confident in my expertise and what I can bring to the world and what I can bring this space.
12:45.01
Beth Hatcher
um But learning to trust that in myself, I feel like was challenge. That was a big accomplishment. It's hard to do sometimes, I think, as a woman, especially as a mom, when you're facing all the challenges of what you should and shouldn't be doing. I feel like there's it's just kind of no-win situation.
13:01.81
Beth Hatcher
So kind of honing into my heart a little bit and kind of into my core, that really has made, that's made a big difference for me.
13:09.05
Lorie Jones
Yeah. And that, and you're right there. There's a lot of, you hear the word like imposter syndrome a lot and you're like, and you know, do I really know? um and a lot of times we get like 20 different credentials. I know that's my route. I got like 20 different credentials behind my name. So I'm like, see, I do know what I'm talking about.
13:29.73
Beth Hatcher
And I never did. you know, I have a bachelor's and half the people on my team have a master's or a PhD, you know, so there's some of that too. And I really am self-taught in the work that I'm doing.
13:40.17
Beth Hatcher
So there's some of that as well. Like had I gone the more traditional educational path, would I be in a dev ah different position? But I'm not, you know, I'm not sure what your experience here would be, Lori, but I feel like learning by doing has been such an important part of my career and my life and how we train our team as well is
13:51.64
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
13:57.12
Beth Hatcher
Hey, if you are smart and you're talented and you're asking the right questions, you can do anything. um You don't have to have, at least in my case, all the credentials after your name, even though it's not a bad idea, right?
14:06.76
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, um what did it, so as you learn by doing and you kind of get that, how did, how did you translate that learning into confidence?
14:18.11
Lorie Jones
Like that's the piece that I'm interested in because you, you go from, You know, young, you don't know anything, you really don't a lot of times when you're young, but you you slowly are building that and so you can see your skills building, but how does how do you translate that into confidence?
14:37.55
Beth Hatcher
Oh, great question.
14:38.62
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
14:38.91
Beth Hatcher
I think time, time and experience. You know, the first time you try something, you're figuring it out, you fail. And failing is hard, but failing is okay. That's a challenge for me personally. I don't like to fail. I mean, who does, right?
14:51.82
Beth Hatcher
But I think the more you do it, every time you do it again, you get stronger and then it turns a little bit different. And then you leverage that expertise that you've had, you know, oh, this looks a little different, but this part is similar. So I can get it this far, you know, along the way.
15:07.02
Beth Hatcher
And again, I think as you do it over and over again, you know, the first time a client said no was really hard and it's become easier. The first time I had to say no to a client was really hard and then that became easier.
15:19.19
Beth Hatcher
So I think it's just that kind of repetition of, um, learned and shared experiences to keep that moving forward and also leveraging your village, leveraging your community, you know, whether that is the people you're learning from, the people you are teaching, your peers, your colleagues, or finding a mentor or a coach in a different place, like asking those questions and absorbing that information, I think,
15:25.54
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
15:44.96
Beth Hatcher
The more conversations I have with people, the more I understand where my knowledge starts and ends and where there theirs begins. And I think understanding and also, you know, over the years, i thought we started as a generalist, we've become more of a specialist, right? i'm not sure if that's been your experience.
16:00.90
Beth Hatcher
But once you realize you're not trying to be everything to everyone, you're trying to do the best you can in your space and feeling confident to say, you know what, I don't have the answer for that.
16:00.91
Lorie Jones
yeah.
16:08.96
Beth Hatcher
But let me introduce you to somebody who does. I think that for me has been a next step of confidence is acknowledging when I just fundamentally don't have the skills to solve that particular problem, but I have this great community and network of folks who are intelligent who can take that to the next level.
16:26.33
Lorie Jones
yeah yeah Yeah, I love that idea. And and the idea of leveraging your your network, your tribe, your the people around you, and that helps them too, right?
16:37.42
Lorie Jones
As you as you um have them do what they're best at, everybody wins, right?
16:44.18
Beth Hatcher
Exactly, exactly.
16:46.64
Lorie Jones
So Beth, what is the worst advice someone gave you? Have you ever gotten like really bad advice? And did you take it? Did you not take it? Did you learn from it?
16:55.06
Beth Hatcher
So two two things come to mind. One's a short story, one's maybe ah a longer, a little bit longer one if we have time for both. um The first advice is actually when I was graduating from college as a poet, I was talking with my poetry professor and I said, you know, what what should I be doing? And she said, Beth,
17:12.01
Beth Hatcher
nine to five jobs are not made for people like you and me. And that really gave me pause because my instinct said, you know what, I actually do okay in a nine to five job. And the reason why is, you know, I've always tried to find the passion in everything I do. You know, my first job out of school was temporary. I moved home to Wisconsin and I worked in a bank doing quality control and quality assurance for like home equity mortgages. I still frankly don't even understand what I was doing,
17:39.62
Beth Hatcher
but it was routine. It was rhythmic. It was not particularly exciting, but I found ways to be efficient and fast. And I had to lift these 40 pound boxes. So I got really strong, but I found a way to make lemonade out of lemons. Right.
17:51.61
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
17:51.92
Beth Hatcher
And so in that bad advice of nine to five job, isn't for you. I found that like, I actually can thrive in any kinds of those circumstances. If you can make the best out of it and learn something and then leverage that to what happens next.
18:04.08
Beth Hatcher
So that was kind of an i eye, eyeopening moment for me. The other, I would say maybe not worst advice, but but damaging feedback I received early in my career, which I wonder if is ah it's particularly relevant for women or not.
18:18.77
Beth Hatcher
But in that first job I had out of school, it was a very competitive and kind of, it was an intense environment. um
18:26.34
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
18:27.77
Beth Hatcher
The people we were working together, we were supposed to be teammates, but we were kind of pitted against each other for who's doing best, who's doing fastest. And so to try to take ownership over my work, I would share with my supervisor, like, oh, I worked on this project, I did this thing, et cetera. And I wasn't throwing people under the bus, but I was trying to take credit and accountability for the work I was doing.
18:47.91
Beth Hatcher
And so the feedback I received is, Beth, you're not a good team player. And I think it was that concept that I was trying to like fend for myself in a really cutthroat environment. And I took that to the nth degree where I kind of became a shadow of myself.
19:04.96
Beth Hatcher
in the workplace. um
19:09.24
Beth Hatcher
I didn't take credit for any work I did. I always lifted up my colleagues and I really kind of damaged the work that I did and made me take a step back because not sure if I was resentful necessarily of it, but I felt like I had to take second tier and lift everybody up around me in order to make them look good. But it was at a detriment to myself and my skills and my expertise.
19:32.36
Beth Hatcher
And that took almost a decade to undo.
19:34.53
Lorie Jones
Hmm. Hmm.
19:35.52
Beth Hatcher
And honestly, now it's it's hard to talk about myself and what I do because I'm always lifting up the team. I'm lifting up the great work. I'm grateful for, I'm grateful the incredible opportunities that I have, but and trying to be a team player doesn't necessarily mean forgetting about yourself as a part of that team.
19:56.38
Beth Hatcher
And I think it takes humility and grace and just delicacy to lift yourself up but while you're also lifting up other people. Does that make sense? it
20:09.23
Lorie Jones
Yeah. And that's a really hard skill to learn and something that's difficult to walk because, yeah, i i I do understand. You're like, you're trying to lift the team around you. You're trying to be a good team player.
20:23.14
Lorie Jones
You're trying to make sure. But on the other hand, you don't want to forget that you've had value here, you know, that you have been doing the work, you have been showing up and, and you do a good job at what you do.
20:37.87
Lorie Jones
And sometimes you have to be a little bit, you have to be a little bit bold. you need to stand up and say, Hey, I, I, I'm doing a good job here. I did this.
20:48.83
Lorie Jones
And, and that is a really hard line to work, you know, to, to walk, especially i i think, especially as a woman, but
20:57.02
Beth Hatcher
It is. And I think some of that is it's the external and internal validation, right? So, you know, we all, we all, I mean, I'll admit it. I want external validation. I want to hear that I did a good job on something.
21:08.13
Beth Hatcher
And even if you know it internally, I think there is that balance of it. you know, I think millennials of which I am a millennial are kind of said that out all millennials want external feedback and praise, which, you know, I think at its face value is true, but we all want to know value.
21:18.97
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
21:21.92
Beth Hatcher
I think that's a beautiful word that you, that you said. and And I diminished my own value in trying to lift everyone up around me.
21:28.07
Lorie Jones
for
21:30.67
Beth Hatcher
Frankly, just to kind of play ball with what the culture was and it was not a good culture, right? So like we've been that, but then taking that into other circumstances, it it is that difficult balance of lifting up your team around you. This is not a me against them, it's us all together. But I also think it takes strong leaders to recognize each of those individual roles, but also how how everyone works together, collaborates partners, makes each other the best versions of themselves, but that comes with also understanding your value as the part of the whole.
22:02.11
Lorie Jones
Yeah, I like that. And, and I'd like to get better at it. Like it would be, it would be so interesting to see a really good example of someone who can both lift the team and make themselves, you know, an important contributing member or show their value and their worth.
22:22.69
Lorie Jones
Because I do think a lot of times, you know, as I've watched my team, I do think a lot of times you don't stand up for yourself enough and say, hey, we we did a great job, but I also did a great job.
22:35.02
Lorie Jones
And not that's a really hard line. I'm have to think on that because that is a hard line to walk, isn't it?
22:42.13
Beth Hatcher
It is. It is. um I think it's something that, you know, quite possibly everyone struggles with. I'm not sure if it's necessarily a female thing, but I do think there's, there's a, especially as a mom, which I'm, I'm very blessed to be a mom. ah Just that self-sacrificial thing.
23:00.54
Beth Hatcher
perspective, you know you should you should take care of your kids over yourself.
23:01.64
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
23:03.77
Beth Hatcher
You should want to. And you know that's a struggle that I had is you know you should want to be at home with your kids. I love my children. I love them so dearly, but I don't want to be at home with them all the time. I love my job.
23:14.38
Beth Hatcher
I love my job and it makes me a better person. It makes me a better mom to be passionate about the work I'm doing. And you know i would I hope that that example I'm showing for them loving, caring, and being passionate about your workplace while also being able to be there for your family. You know, that's a balance in and of itself.
23:31.36
Beth Hatcher
But I think there's just, there is that double-edged sword you should be all things to all people. You should have all the self-care in the world and also be there for your family and be there for as a partner and be there for your work and like be accessible all the time. And don't forget to text and email and pick up the phone and do FaceTime. Like, oh my God, how do we even, how do we even get through the day?
23:50.50
Beth Hatcher
But I'm getting distracted.
23:50.64
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
23:51.66
Beth Hatcher
I'm sorry.
23:53.03
Lorie Jones
I just watched that ah that Barbie movie quote again today, and it just struck me the same as it does every time I watch it, where you have to be all things to all people and still show up for yourself and yet never you know put yourself above others. It really is kind of, it just sort of encapsulates everything.
24:11.21
Lorie Jones
all the things that were like, how do you do all that? How do you do all that? Yeah, I don't know. So i i guess we're learning together and we can help and support other women along the journey and and know and and be an example. I actually did read some research recently that um that said that young children with working moms and successful working moms um have a more successful career because they've seen the way that that an example of, you know, a working, a successful working mother. So, so that's what I'm clinging to.
24:47.47
Lorie Jones
Sounds
24:48.63
Beth Hatcher
I love that. We'll cling to it together.
24:50.95
Lorie Jones
great. What about a situation that you could go back in and, you know, if you did, if you knew the same things, you'd do it the same way, but what if you could take back all the knowledge that you have now and go back to a situation where you're like, Ooh, I would, I would do that differently.
25:09.15
Beth Hatcher
you know that's That is ah memory that still makes me cringe, frankly. um it was earlier on in in my career in in the Beth Interactive history.
25:19.68
Beth Hatcher
We just moved back from Germany and I had the opportunity to work with a very random, not typical industry for me to build a really innovative and creative website, which is not something we do anymore, but it was something that we were doing quite a bit at the And I sat down with the two heads of this multi-million or billion dollar company and just felt completely out of place.
25:41.07
Beth Hatcher
You know, I'm too young. I'm inexperienced. I don't really have what it takes. But I heard their vision and my answer back was, I haven't done it before, so I can't do it.
25:53.54
Beth Hatcher
And that sticks with me.
25:54.93
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
25:55.42
Beth Hatcher
And it has stuck with me because that that it that wasn't true at the time. I could have done it if I had applied my mind to it. And interestingly, a year later, i got almost exactly the same project and knocked it out of park.
26:08.76
Beth Hatcher
But I had this perspective in my mind that I haven't done it, so I can't do it. And i actually referred them to somebody else. And I said, I'm so sorry to waste your time. Here's somebody else who I think is up for the task. And I think that kind of comes back to the themes that we've talked about already, you know trusting yourself and realizing that you know It's not a fake it until you make it situation. there isn't I would never bluster in front of a client to say I could do something that I truly don't believe I'm capable of. And that's where we have that partnership and network of other folks who do.
26:38.82
Beth Hatcher
But if you have the raw skills, that that's that stretch zone, right? like That's the challenging place where you can grow, not just relying on all the projects you've done in the past, but saying, I have that lived experience, but here's this next step for me.
26:46.24
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
26:53.92
Beth Hatcher
And I'm typically honest to say, I haven't done this exact thing, but here's the approach that I would take. And that was just a really big learning opportunity for me to realize that I have the skills. you know Even at that young age, I have the skills to do these projects and also to trust myself when I don't.
27:09.67
Beth Hatcher
But through that, that's also part of the way that we've grown our team is hiring really smart, intelligent, ambitious people who have that raw skill and talent and desire to do more even if they haven't done that exact thing.
27:21.44
Beth Hatcher
You know, it's great when all those stars align, but um I think taking that learning opportunity of I can, so I will has really driven me moving forward.
27:33.55
Lorie Jones
I haven't done it yet, but I bet I, yeah, but I've got the skillset to do it.
27:35.59
Beth Hatcher
Exactly.
27:39.90
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. What about you could go back Beth and talk to yourself at the beginning of your journey? Um, you know, twenty in 18, 19, 20, 21, somewhere around there.
27:52.71
Lorie Jones
What would you tell her?
27:55.88
Beth Hatcher
would tell her, and this is kind of funny, like take a job, any job. um You know, i felt coming out of school that I had to find the perfect opportunity, right, that that allowed me to pursue my passions and was a great work environment and all those things, which we all hope and aspire to.
28:13.04
Beth Hatcher
But it's really hard to find, especially coming right out of school or right out of, you know, whatever your career circumstances are. um And I found that as I kind of skipped along the way, like jumped on different stepping stones in my career, every time I did something that wasn't where I was going to permanently be, I picked up new things. I picked up new skills, experiences, networks.
28:34.77
Beth Hatcher
um And frankly, every position I've ever had was because I knew someone. And I think that is unfortunately really challenging for folks entering the workplaces to to find that network. um But I think You know, I never would have expected to be where I am now at 20.
28:51.18
Beth Hatcher
But to tell her, you know, follow your path, take those opportunities, but stay curious, right? Stay curious, ask questions, get the most you can out of each of those experiences because that's going to lead you into the next one.
29:02.92
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm.
29:03.10
Beth Hatcher
And I think that that can be really challenging for young people, especially when there's this pedestal of what we all want our future career to be. But it took me a long time to get here to this place. I think it takes us all a long time to get to the places where we feel confident. I have friends that hit their forever career at 40 or 43.
29:23.27
Beth Hatcher
So it takes a while to get there, but you pick up those those experiences and that knowledge along the way. And I think That level of learning by doing, again, is invaluable and cannot be overstated.
29:35.21
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Yeah. It's, and it's interesting that you mentioned that like every single piece, every single job gave you a piece of who you became. Right.
29:45.08
Beth Hatcher
It didn't.
29:45.26
Lorie Jones
and and so like, even those jobs that you feel like, oh my gosh, can't do this for one more minute, one more hour. You know, i had those going through college and, and, you know, but starting out in the workforce and stuff like that.
29:59.89
Lorie Jones
But even those, I think they teach you a little bit of something. And so glean it like take the opportunity. I love how you, you know, we're talking about just like you had a job that wasn't that intellectually inspiring, but you found, you found, you know, ways to make it, it fun and interesting. And, and, um, you gleaned what you could out of every experience. It's kind of like living life to the fullest. Right.
30:28.26
Beth Hatcher
I tried at the very least. I probably complained a lot along the way, but um you know in retrospect, it's probably a little bit rosier, but but you're exactly right. you You pick up the pieces of who you are as you move along, whether it's what you thought you were going to be or who you thought you were going to be or realizing who you're not.
30:45.41
Beth Hatcher
You only have that experience by by trying.
30:49.85
Lorie Jones
What about, what scared you the most when you started out on your journey? um And does it still scare you or not really?
30:57.22
Beth Hatcher
I think what scared me when I began my journey was being too young and that imposter syndrome that we talked about. um That was challenging and that's that's come with time, right?
31:09.55
Beth Hatcher
It's hard to feel like you belong sometimes in a space where we're all supposed to make ourselves look really intelligent and being humble and honest about your skills and your expertise can be really challenging. And I think relies on internal confidence, but also trust and safety of the community that you're with.
31:28.72
Beth Hatcher
And I feel really, really honored to be part of a team, ah both my you know current immediate team, but also our clients, where we can have those kind of honest conversations about, you know yeah, this didn't go exactly the way I wanted, and here's the reason why, but here's what I'm going to do to make it better.
31:43.49
Beth Hatcher
um Anyway, yes, ski being fear of failure always is challenging and that's tough to overcome. But again, I think that comes with time and experience and just trusting yourself and trusting trusting the team that's around you that they'll get you through it and lift you up through it.
32:00.02
Lorie Jones
Do you ever get not scared of failing?
32:03.51
Beth Hatcher
Oh, I haven't yet. I haven't yet.
32:06.10
Lorie Jones
there
32:07.15
Beth Hatcher
I know. i know. ah Gosh, it's so hard. You know, my husband always tells me like some things are going to fail as we get bigger, as things get more complex. You know, I'm, I work far more than I should to begin with. mean, it's just, that's just who I am, but I do love the challenges that I have, but also being a perfectionist makes it really challenging to let things fail, but also how will everyone else learn if there aren't some of those things that they get that opportunity to find how to pick things up and move forward and find that creative solution. So,
32:36.74
Beth Hatcher
If I ever figure out how to stop, who how to not be scared of failure, Laura, you will be the first person I call.
32:42.02
Lorie Jones
That's perfect. Call me the day you figure it out. I would love to know.
32:47.79
Beth Hatcher
You got it. You got it. Oh my gosh.
32:49.88
Lorie Jones
ah What about any unique challenges because you're a woman throughout your career journey, Beth?
32:55.92
Beth Hatcher
Gosh, you know,
33:00.27
Beth Hatcher
I feel very privileged to say i don't I don't feel like I've, I feel very privileged to say that I don't feel like I've faced any encounters as a woman. There's been, you know, a little bit here and there, um but nothing substantial.
33:11.76
Beth Hatcher
I think for me, choosing to be a mom and navigating that balance, as we talked about a little bit, has been challenging because as a woman, you're supposed to want to work and want to be home.
33:15.42
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
33:23.11
Beth Hatcher
And you're shamed if you work too much and you're shamed if you're at home too much. You know, there's just, there's no winning there. um That's a delicate balance that I still struggle with. um I'm very, very lucky to have incredible husband and partner who supports me every step of the way.
33:37.71
Beth Hatcher
And my kids are very understanding. Actually, my older daughter regularly gives me business advice. She asks me, Mom, what are the bumps? She calls them the bumps. What are the bumps that you have? And she likes to problem solve with me. And it gives me a chance to talk about the basics of entrepreneurship and being a leader.
33:53.38
Beth Hatcher
ah So, you know, that's just has been a funny way that the two worlds have collided a little bit. So I feel i feel very lucky and I'm confident that there's a lot of women out there that haven't been as lucky as I have in those places.
34:08.86
Beth Hatcher
And I've also had some really incredible female mentors and coaches along the way that have stepped up and supported me and be confident myself in those ways.
34:18.64
Lorie Jones
I like that. I like that you found women along your journey that have have been helpful and lifted and grown. And, um, you know, that's, that's the reason I do the podcast is to like give that sense of mentorship or that sense of, of ah we're here to help.
34:38.48
Lorie Jones
Um, and we'd love to help. So I, I love that you were lucky to have those. Some, some of my guests haven't been, others have been, and I, I, I love when they, when they do, when those women along their journey Help out with a just even support or cup of coffee or something like that when you're having a low day, right?
35:01.83
Beth Hatcher
Absolutely. And it can be it can be competitive too. I mean, in my earlier career, I saw women who, when they made it to the top, tried to prevent other women from rising. And that, man, that's tough to watch.
35:14.79
Beth Hatcher
That's tough to watch.
35:14.82
Lorie Jones
Yeah.
35:15.77
Beth Hatcher
And I think, you know, also it's it's more than just women. I know this is the Fearless Females podcast. So like, I'm all for that. But I think it's also helping everyone where there's the opportunity to support all people and getting where they can be the best versions of themselves.
35:31.33
Lorie Jones
I agree. I've got three sons of my own. So I i definitely get that.
35:38.09
Beth Hatcher
Oh my gosh.
35:38.25
Lorie Jones
ah What about beth What are you the most proud of?
35:47.72
Beth Hatcher
Oh, that's a tough one to put into words. um i am incredibly proud of the business I've built and the people that have come with me along the way.
36:02.81
Beth Hatcher
and the way that we are building this niche industry of digitally driven healthcare philanthropy. I'm not the only shop in town that does it, but I think the way that we do it in a way that focuses on deep care and passion and partnership.
36:24.62
Beth Hatcher
for the clients we work with and the team around me. i mean, there is so much love in the work that we pour into it and the projects that we're able to share. and I think, you know, consultants get, vendors consultants get such a bad rap, but Because there's this understanding that it's it's all about the money.
36:41.90
Beth Hatcher
It's all about you know just getting the job done. And that is not the love that we put into it. And I say love, like i mean love. We put love into it. um And to have built an agency over 15 years with a growing and very strong reputation, the opportunity to build new build new things and solve new problems that are so clearly needed by the people we work with,
37:11.55
Beth Hatcher
um it's it's more than gratifying. it's ah It's just incredibly rewarding. And I think, are you familiar with the term ikigai? It's a Japanese term, a reason for living or a sense of purpose.
37:25.00
Lorie Jones
Yeah, yeah.
37:26.32
Beth Hatcher
So ikigai is the center of Four pieces, right? It's what the world needs, what you love, what you can get paid for, and what you're good at. And the center of all four of those things is Ikigai.
37:39.90
Beth Hatcher
And I kind of think I might have gotten close to that. I do feel like what I love and am passionate about is, in fact, where I can make a career and what the world needs. And to find the center that I feel like I'm there I've come there and I've worked my way to get there.
37:57.18
Beth Hatcher
Oh, my God. i'm I'm really proud of that.
37:59.12
Lorie Jones
Yeah. Oh, that's really inspirational. And it feels right, you know, that that when you find your center, that it's not only what you love doing. And I i love that you talk about putting love into your work because because i i think that you can't find that ikigai, that center, unless you you truly do love your work.
38:24.03
Lorie Jones
Like you love what you do. And that doesn't mean every day. Yeah.
38:28.40
Beth Hatcher
I was just going to say there are, oh my gosh, there are so many challenges, Lori, you know, um being an entrepreneur, balancing all these things, just the day-to-day is really challenging, but it does feel, and I have this conversation with my husband a lot, like I do love what I do.
38:33.28
Lorie Jones
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
38:44.71
Beth Hatcher
i love it. And that does drive me. It drives me and it keeps me happy. And if there's ever that point at which I don't love it, then we'll make some changes. But it's pretty remarkable to be able to say that.
38:59.33
Lorie Jones
Any advice for a young lady who's just starting down this path that you're already successful at? um Any advice to help her succeed like you?
39:09.12
Beth Hatcher
I think, you know, I said it earlier, but I think be curious, stay curious, look for opportunities to learn, to grow yourself, to meet new people.
39:20.17
Beth Hatcher
um You know, I learned along the way that if you know you're meeting with somebody doing that like informational interview, don't just ask that person, but ask them, who else do you think that I could speak with? Who else do you think would be a good person for me to connect with?
39:34.08
Beth Hatcher
But I think just staying curious, asking questions and being open to sort of that that world and that path where where the world is going to take you, you know where where your path goes. um Again, I never thought I would be where I am today, but I Seized every opportunity that I could to the best of my skills, right? Like we're not always able to take everything on, but um by asking those questions, being open and curious to following that path, that's what got me here. And that's what I think helped me find that thing that I love the most, even if it comes about in unexpected ways.
40:07.55
Lorie Jones
I love that. I love that thought. I have just really appreciated listening to your journey and listening to your story. And I've gotten a lot of thinking points out of it too, where I'm like, oh, I need to, I need to delve deeper into that. But um thank you so much, Beth, for sharing and being here with us.
40:27.37
Lorie Jones
If I have a listener that wants to connect with you and ask questions or um something like that, how does she get ahold of you?
40:34.44
Beth Hatcher
Oh, what I would love to connect with anybody who has questions or if I might be able to support in any way. um I'm on LinkedIn as Beth Hatcher and folks can email me at Beth at BethInteractive.com if they'd like to reach out or learn more.
40:50.25
Lorie Jones
Perfect. Well, thank you so much for doing this for us. I really appreciate it.
40:54.27
Beth Hatcher
Oh, thank you, Laurie. This was wonderful. I'm so grateful for the opportunity.