Mandy Betlach

I have parents who worked extremely hard, and I would attribute my success to them. They really taught me the value of hard work. My dad got married really young and didn't go to college or anything like that. At times he worked two or three jobs to make sure that his family had everything they needed, while still being present and coming home and enjoying being there with the family. They just really instilled the value of hard work into me, and I think that value has been something I carried forward. So I would attribute a lot of my success to their example, and their love, and their support.

I would say it's more life advice, but it's served me well in my career. The best advice was to respond, not react. I think that, especially when I was younger, I was quick to react with emotion. And I think as women in the workplace, we are often seen as over-emotional. So, learning how to not be reactive to things, but to be responsive, has served me well. I was also told to not poison the well. Even if I was unhappy, don't poison the well for everybody else. That was impactful. You know, watch what I say to other people who maybe are not having the same experience. Gossip can be poisonous.

I would say own who you are. In my industry in particular, there's a desire to do things right, or to do things the proper way, or to be a certain type of woman, and I would say own who you are, be authentic. I think that, especially teenagers can sniff out an imposter like nobody else in business. So own who you are, and work hard, and play hard. Ultimately, I think I would tell somebody that because I work in a ministry, I would say that God calls us to be faithful, and not responsible. And all you can do is be faithful, and show up, and do what you are called to do, and do it to the best of your ability, and the results are no longer on you. We're not called to be responsible anywhere in Scripture, we're called to be faithful.

I would say the biggest challenges in any kind of people job is that you can't, you know, the whole lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. I think if you wrap your success up in how other people are doing, man, you can really beat up on yourself. I can put so much time, energy, effort into writing effective curriculum, or spending time with someone, but if they aren't willing to put the same level of work in or work the process, then success can't be measured by the outcome, and that's really challenging. I think I often in my career have wanted things more for my clients than they have wanted it for themselves. And I think when you're going through things, and when you're struggling, it's hard to have the energy to really want to push yourself when everything feels stuck again. Which is why coaching is so beautiful, is you just get to walk alongside people. That's part of what I love about it, is the joy of walking alongside, even when things are hard, and getting to encourage. But that also is such a downside to me is when I want more than they do. I think that the opportunities are kind of endless right now. I think the coaching industry is blowing up. My fear is that there's not regulatory systems. Anyone can put the title coach in front of their name. So how do you know, and is that going to cheapen things or cause distrust in the industry in general, and that makes me nervous. There isn't a huge governing board or something like that, like there is in social work, to make sure that you're keeping your credentials up to speed. But the opportunities are limitless. I mean, people want to grow.

I would say my faith and my family are two of the most important values to me. And then, excellence is really important to me. If I'm gonna do something, I'm gonna do it to the best of my ability, and do it well.