Today, we’d like to introduce you to Mary Beth Walters.
Hi Mary Beth, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I am a graduate of Clemson University. I hold a BA in Political Science and double minors in English and Psychology. I am also a graduate of the University of South Carolina. I hold an MMA (Masters in Media Arts) with double cognates in Art and Journalism. Clearly an overachiever! And in the epic battle of Clemson vs. Carolina… I’m a Clemson girl all the way.
I am a 4th generation Clemson legacy and the first female in my family to attend and graduate from the University. My great-grandfather was in the second graduating class in Clemson’s history, my grandfather, father, and an uncle attended Clemson when it was still a military school, and a second uncle graduated right after Clemson went co-ed.
My father wanted me to go to law school because he said I have a gift for talking and arguing to prove my point. I applied to law schools and was accepted, but somewhere between applications and graduation, I decided that wasn’t really for me. I briefly considered trying to get a Masters in Psychology, but because I hadn’t majored in Psychology, the subject test for the GRE proved a bit too challenging for me to be competitive to get into a program.
I decided to take some time before applying to Graduate School to get into the workforce and see if I wanted to continue my education… or start my career. My first job after graduating from Clemson was working for Fatz Cafe’s corporate office in Greer. They were headquartered in a little residential house across the street from the Old Mill location. I worked in Accounts Receivable.
When I tell you that math was never my strong suit, I was a HORRIBLE A/R employee. Thank goodness our Accountant reviewed my work and corrected my errors! Needless to say, I decided to apply to the Graduate School for Media Arts. I’ve always been creative, and I thought that I’d enjoy a career working in film, either directing or screenwriting, so I got accepted to USC and loved every moment of my education in the program.
When I came out of school, the country was in a recession, so moving to California wasn’t really an option. Instead, I was able to stay local when I got a job working at WSPA in the Production department. I worked on live news broadcasts as a Camera Operator, Assistant Director, Writer, and Producer. I learned a lot and got to meet some very interesting people.
Keith Urban appeared on our Noon broadcast once. He had just come to America, so he was still relatively unknown to country music fans to tour, and he sang a song on our show. Super nice and genuine guy… and quite the flirt. I had the opportunity to work on some local advertising campaigns, write for special programming, create some well-received Public Service Announcements on “Red Light Safety” that were nominated for Emmy awards, and dip my toes into Marketing.
After working for six years at WSPA, I had an opportunity to become the Marketing Manager for a boutique wealth management firm in Asheville, NC. I spent two years learning about investing and insurance and marketing our products and services, as well as learning about web maintenance and event planning. It was a great experience. I paused my career at that point to give birth to my son, Harrison, and spend some time being a Mommy, which was my greatest joy!
Once I came off my “maternication,” I worked for two years as the Managing Editor for the Rapid River Arts & Culture publication. I spent my time writing articles on the Asheville art and culture scene, book, movie, music, and restaurant reviews, conducting interviews with local business owners and artists, editing and proofing the entire publication, selling ads for the publication, marketing, participating in local events, and, my favorite thing, guest-hosting a Friday morning “pop culture” segment on WWNC radio. Enter the Coffee Master.
I had an opportunity to work for Ingles Markets for four-and-a-half years as a Department Manager and Trainer for Starbucks. I trained employees to make perfect lattes, cappuccinos, frappuccinos, and perfect cups of coffee. Strangely, I think it was the ability to be creative and artistic that drove my success in that role. I created many “hidden menu” items for my customers… I was a “mad scientist” when it came to ingredients, and we had customers coming from surrounding towns from word-of-mouth advertising just to try our “specials.”
I was able to get creative with in-store marketing and product merchandising that kept my store in the top three producers for Ingles Starbucks locations. When Starbucks introduced its “blonde” roast, I created a marketing campaign where my staff dressed up as “famous blondes” to sell more bags of coffee.
We had Marilyn Monroe, Madonna, and Jayne Mansfield. You get the picture. I took the opportunity during my tenure with Ingles to become a Starbucks Coffee Master… which made me one of the most coffee-educated people that Starbucks employs. If you ever want to know what certain coffees pair best with to bring out their unique notes… this gal knows!
My husband Michael says that my coffee is better than anything he can get commercially, and it’s my fault he’s now a coffee snob! Life hit a few nasty bumps. I went through a divorce, which was devastating, but there was a wonderful silver lining, I met Michael, my rock and my “person” and we started dating.
In that same year, I was an only child, a “late in life… miracle” baby to my parents. When I lost both my mother and my father within three months of each other, I was inconsolable. My mother had been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer and had been receiving treatment for a year. My father was also diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, he was asymptomatic and by the time the doctors discovered it, he only lived for two more weeks before passing away.
I moved back to Greer, South Carolina to take care of my mother after my father’s passing, and Michael came with me to help, Once my father was gone, my mother didn’t want to be without him. Had my father lived 13 more days, they would have celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Michael and I got married a few days after my mother’s funeral with her blessing.
At that time, I had started working for the National Beta Club headquartered in Spartanburg. I worked as part of the marketing team. I promoted National Beta events, programs, scholarships, and state and national conventions via email campaigns, mailers, school speaking engagement events, and social media. I also worked as part of the team, doing outreach to form new clubs and performing retention efforts with current clubs.
I also had the opportunity to help the National Beta Club revamp and rebrand their website, providing most of the copy for the project. Having been a Beta Club member at Riverside High School in Greer, this was a wonderful opportunity to give back to an organization that helped shape my servant-leader skills.
Global marketing for a Fortune 500 company. With the skills that I had acquired thus far in my career, I made the jump to work for Fluor Corporation in Greenville in a contracted position as a Marketing Specialist III. I worked writing, editing, and proofing significant proposals for the Fluor Government Group and the Infrastructure line.
Some of the proposals I worked on were for two new subway lines in the Boston area, the Zee Bridge in New York, the construction of military housing in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the complete reconstruction of the Puerto Rican power grid that was demolished by five hurricanes in 2017 and which wound up being a 2.2 Billion project for Fluor.
I also worked on special projects with the Art Department, including the Fluor Book, which comes out every ten years and features major projects that Fluor has completed. I also worked with our graphics team to produce maps, graphic representations, photos, and collateral for proposals. As part of the Global Marketing Department, I worked with several of our international offices. I worked with teams in the Phillippines, South Africa, and the United Kingdom and learned about different cultures and work ethics.
My next role, Marketing and Corporate Communications Manager for Poly-Med, Inc., was probably one of my favorite roles because I loved the history and our mission. Poly-Med, Inc. was started by Dr. Shalaby Shalaby, one of the forefathers of the bioresorbable polymer industry. He was one of the lead inventors of the Vicryl suture (the glue doctors can use on wounds to close them up without doing traditional stitches) and a former professor at Clemson University.
What I loved about the company was the innovation the scientists and engineers were doing to improve the medical devices industry. They create products that are medical and surgical grade components made of bioresorbable polymers that, when used in the body, are designed to disintegrate over time and be expelled as water and CO2 from the body.
The mission was to keep patients’ surgical costs low, reduce healing time, and give patients a better health experience. I took a crash course in Ph.D. level chemistry to understand our product line, which was thoroughly fascinating. I created marketing campaigns via a vertical marketing structure that targeted academia, medical device companies, and entrepreneurs to take advantage of our services at any point during product development.
I became adept at event planning, strategic planning, social media planning, and tradeshow marketing. Through my research, I was able to help our company get on the global stage in the medical device industry by sending them to some of the world’s largest medical device tradeshows, which allowed them to bring in more clients, produce more devices, and become even more profitable.
I also completed a rebrand of the company’s website, providing the copy, new material, and maintenance of the site. I also provided all internal and external communication from C-suite to employees and stakeholders. With the HR team, I helped craft job postings, social media, and website responses to questions or comments, and intranet communications with employees. I also worked on our Corporate responsibility project, which provided STEM resources to a local school in Anderson County.
That brings us to my current role at SC Works Greater Upstate. I am the Regional Business Solutions Consultant for Greenville, Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union Counties. SC Works is an umbrella of government agencies that are housed under one roof and provide customers with a “One-Stop” approach, meaning if you have more than one issue that you need assistance with, you can meet with any of our represented agencies (SCDEW, DSS, Vocational Rehabilitation, Veteran’s Services, and Adult Education, as well as some other local agencies or non-profits) by coming into one of our comprehensive centers.
We have one in Greenville and one in Spartanburg. We have satellite locations in Cherokee and Union counties, and some services may not be available every day. I assist this agency with problem-solving for any situation where business solutions can provide an answer, whether that is through connecting resources or providing them with information about the programs and services I manage.
My role allows me to network with and assist local employers to help them solve workforce issues with hiring, training, and retention of employees through WIOA (Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act), federal funds provided to states by the Department of Labor and then the state deploys the funds to the local workforce development boards. I work with both the Greenville County Workforce Development Board, which governs the Greenville area, and the Upstate Workforce Board which governs Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union Counties.
These funds are specifically earmarked to provide training and upskilling to help those who are unemployed, underemployed, or permanently laid off find meaningful and sustainable work with a sustainable wage. These programs are open to any business we serve in our four-county area footprint. There are two major programs that employers are interested in.
The first is our On-the-Job Training (OJT) program, which allows employers to fill roles with individuals who may need some additional training that the employer will provide to upskill the individual they are hiring to be successful in their role. The incentive is that companies who agree to provide the training for a qualified candidate can receive 50% up to $3000 in the individual’s training wages, and effectively, this becomes a win-win situation.
The other program that employers can utilize is our Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) Program. Each year, through our WIOA funds, we get a certain amount of money, as determined by our Boards, that we can utilize to help employers who want to or need to upskill their existing workforce pay for third-party training that they need to stay competitive in their industry.
For instance, if there is new software or machinery that employees need training on or a company is looking to promote from within and wants to provide staff with leadership training, these are things that we can provide funds to support. The funds can also be used for training if a company is trying to avert a layoff or closure. Funds for this purpose come directly from the state and are available at any time.
For our local funds, we usually do a solicitation one time per year and award grants to companies who apply for the funds. It is competitive, but ultimately, the goal is to continue to make the workforce strong and marketable. I plan and execute job fairs and career events that are open to the public to help local employers find the talent they need to fill open and available roles. Also, I host workshops and quarterly meetings for employers to learn more about resources available in our area that they can take advantage of.
In addition, I convene groups of people together who can provide assistance or help problem solve. Being a part of local and community organizations and government entities is also something that my role encompasses and is one of my favorite aspects of my role. I encourage any company in the area to reach out to me if you have any workforce development issues that you need help solving, that’s why I’m here, and this is my passion!
How do you think about luck?
I don’t know if luck has played a role in my career so much as divine intervention. I believe that God has put me where I needed to be, for better or worse. I think some of my not-so-great experiences were given to me as learning experiences and to prepare me for the next steps in my career. No matter what role I’ve served in, I have gained knowledge and skills… and maybe even how to handle myself, like a professional, in tough situations, and I feel like that has helped make me the professional I am today.
I think when good things have come my way in my career, whether it was a promotion, meeting a lifelong friend, or finding more experienced people who gave me sage advice, I have taken them as blessings. Everything that happens to us happens for a reason, even though, at the time, we may not understand what those reasons are. When I look back over my 20+ year career, I’m starting to see why some of these things fell into place, while others still elude me.
Sometimes I wonder if I could go back in time knowing what I know now if I would change anything, choose a different path. That inner monologue can give me a headache, and I still don’t have an answer. Maybe I’d be a Psychologist now if I’d worked harder toward that goal. Maybe I would have been an Academy Award-winning director or screenwriter if I had taken a chance and moved out to California.
Or maybe I’d be right here right now doing what I’m doing, making a difference in my community and in my client’s lives, and talking with you about the crazy around-the-elbow-to-get-to-my-nose way that got me to my happiest role. I love what I do, and I love the people I work with. My team is 100% awesome. Honestly, I think I’m exactly where I am supposed to be doing what I’m supposed to be doing until God sees fit for me to move on to another challenge and solve new problems. I’ll keep you posted.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://scworksupstate.com/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/marybethgossettwalters
Image Credits
Jack Vasquez, Kayla Kirby, Nikki Burgess, Shanelle Holmes, and Frederica Hutchinson
