Life & Work with Jessica Ethridge

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Ethridge.

Hi Jessica, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Thank you so much for the opportunity to share some of my story!

I grew up in a conservative blue-collar home in Greer, SC, and always had a deep interest in politics. When I was a little girl my father and I would have conversations about the things I would see on the news. Once I became a teenager, our conversations would go much deeper and cover topics around politics, religion, and life in general. In all those conversations, my father would ask questions and guide me to think and reach my own conclusions. He always said it was his job as a parent to teach me “how to think” and not tell me “what to think”.

My father always set an example that encouraged me to serve my community and be a voice for those who may not be able to speak for themselves. He taught me that doing the right thing will not always be popular, but it will never be wrong.

I live in Greenville and serve the Greenville County Libertarian Party as Secretary, a position I have held since 2019. In addition to the responsibilities of that role, I have worked with various organizations within our community to provide service opportunities for our members.

At the 2021 South Carolina Libertarian Party State Convention I was elected unanimously by the delegation to serve as the 2nd Vice-Chair of the South Carolina Libertarian Party, in addition to serving as the Chair of Membership for the SCLP since 2021. I have served as a South Carolina delegate to the last two National Conventions, and I also worked as part of the SC Field Team for the Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen campaign in 2020.

In June 2022, I was nominated by an overwhelming majority of the State’s delegation to run for Lieutenant Governor.

Outside of the campaign, the project I am most excited about is “Parenting Porcupines”. This is a podcast that was born out of the necessity for representation in the podcast market for Libertarian Parents. Parenting Porcupines provides commentary around issues that uniquely impact those with children, and with a goal to reach a broader audience by using shared experiences to demonstrate libertarian principles in fundamental ways.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been easy or smooth. My authenticity and integrity are non-negotiable, and for some that has been very difficult to respect. I have learned that it is ok to walk away from opportunities or people that would require me to abandon either, or both, of those convictions.

Politically, as a third-party candidate for statewide office the biggest challenge I am currently facing in my campaign is a lack of media coverage. We have been excluded from the debates and nearly all news articles surrounding the upcoming election. It is unfair to the citizens of South Carolina that the local press is not providing equal coverage of all their options.

As for lessons, I think the most important one has been how to truly listen to others- not just hear them. It has been my experience that the most important details are the unspoken ones, and those details are easily missed if we are not listening to understand.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Outside of my work within the Party, I have been a legal professional for almost 20 years. I have worked in real estate property research and transactional work, corporate compliance, corporate licensing, and human resources. I came to work for my current employer as a Supply Chain Coordinator, and was tasked with identifying opportunities to create new processes, or enhance existing ones, to maximize efficiency and profitability of our staff. In that role, I successfully built processes and teams that have allowed us to support our staff in unprecedented ways across the State.

After two years in that position, I was promoted to be the State Operations Manager. Within six months of that transition, our operation began to see profitability, began to streamline processes, and began to develop additional support strategies to help our team work more efficiently. Client satisfaction also improved as I worked to create processes that ensured proactive customer service to our clients. Our delivery metrics, as a result, improved from 50-60% compliance to over 90% compliance with company expectations, and various processes I created have provided a blueprint for the development and implementation of services nationally.

Outside the office I served the South Carolina Upstate Paralegal Association from 2013-2015 as the Vice-President in charge of Membership, and as the Chair of the Pro Bono Committee.

In my time as VP-Membership, I was able to successfully increase membership by over 30%, working within not only the legal community, but also by working closely with Paralegal programs to recruit new members and provide apprenticeships and opportunities for students.

In my role as Pro Bono Committee Chair, I organized numerous successful initiatives for our membership including food drives, Easter basket drives, clothing drives, backpack drives, and partnerships with local organizations to provide volunteer opportunities. My biggest achievement was an event called “The Professional Soldier’s Soiree”, a formal dinner and silent auction to benefit the Green Beret Foundation.

In 2014 I was awarded the Paralegal of the Year award by the South Carolina Upstate Paralegal Association. I also received recognition from both the Executive Director and the Chairman of the Board of the Green Beret Foundation for my work in support of their initiatives to provide services to servicemen and servicewomen and their families.

What’s next?
Right now, I am focused on using the campaign to learn as much as I can from the incredible people of South Carolina. I want to hear about the challenges our government has created in their homes and their communities so that we can look for solutions. Hopefully, whatever is next will allow me to work for them to affect change for our State, in whatever capacity that might be.

As for the bigger picture, I honestly don’t know yet. I always pursue opportunities that challenge me to learn and grow; and growth, by its nature, is change. One of my favorite quotes is from Lauryn Hill, “Anything that’s not growing is dead”. I have a lot of life left, and I want to spend that life making the world a better place however I can. Any opportunity that will allow me to do that will be what’s next.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicaethridgesc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JessicaEthridgeSC
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/JessEthridgeSC
• Other: www.parentingporcupines.com

Image Credits
Jennifer Brecheisen (campaign photos)