Story & Lesson Highlights with Betsy Tanner of Fountain Inn

We recently had the chance to connect with Betsy Tanner and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Betsy, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
While running my business has been hard, I find that parenting is the hardest job of all. And sometimes the “rewards” can be hard to find in parenting. I’m in the stage of enforcing curfews, trying to curb “attitudes”, oversight on the internet and learning the balance of letting go and still being the parent (teens and preteens). The laughs come when we play pickle ball in the front yard and the kids kill my husband and I (we didn’t even get a point one game-apparently thats called being “pickled”). The laughs of everyone makes losing worth every minute. Unscheduled relaxed time together is somewhat rare but when it happens, the joy abounds.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Betsy Tanner, and I am a lawyer in Fountain Inn, SC. I’ve been practicing law for about 18 years, and I opened my own law practice in January of 2021. I practice adoption law and probate law and recently I added estate planning to my practice. I am passionate about adoption law as an adult adoptee and an adoptive mom. Adoption is a vital part of my life and I love working with the adoption community to bring families together. I joke that probate law is the opposite end of the spectrum. But in reality, I am helping families through a time of change in their lives. Both adoption and probate law have been extremely rewarding. I decided to add estate planning to my law practice because I know estate planning can serve both sets of my clients very well. When you add a child through adoption, you want to make sure you have all your affairs in order. Also, when a loved one passes away and you have to go through the difficulty of the probate process, you want to try to set things up so your family will have an easier time. Through every area I practice, I want to help put families’ minds at ease with a compassionate and competent approach to my representation.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was creative and free. As a young girl, I had imaginary friends. We talked and played and my imagination ran wild. I also remember roller skating in my driveway to the music from my the tape in my boombox. The world was my stage. Another memory of creativity and freedom was riding the horses (bent over trees) in my front yard. The “horses” galloped me to far lands. Pure joy. I recently rode by the house I grew up in, and I was amazed at how small the front yard was. In my memory, the yard was huge because it was my whole world. From my perspective as a child, I had a vast play area that took me wherever my creative mind wanted to go. Turns out, the lot was a small/normal lot, but the memories of my childhood still bring a smile to my face.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of failure. I don’t try new things at times for fear I won’t be good at them. I should have opened my own law practice years before I did out of fear of failure. When other outside circumstances put the pressure on to go out on my own, I finally made the move. While terrifying, especially since it was January of 2021 after we obviously just had 2020, opening my own practice has been tremendous.

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
I want everything that I do to be based on my Christian faith, but I don’t necessarily shout that out. I hope that my words and actions reflect this foundational truth. Kindness, integrity, good communication, commitment and consistency. I don’t want to have to articulate these truths, I want to live them out. Additionally, a foundational truth is that every person is made in God’s image and thus every person has intrinsic value. The foster child, the immigrant, the elderly, the sick, the hurting, the oppressed, the poor, the powerful, the wealthy, and the “average.” If everyone has intrinsic value, then all should be treated with kindness and respect. I hope my life demonstrates this.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. If you laid down your name, role, and possessions—what would remain?
I have seriously struggled with this question. In other words, who am I? Who am I really if not a wife, mom, friend, lawyer, daughter? I have not necessarily fully grasped the answer except to say that I am LOVED. I am loved by God with an unconditional, eternal love that gives purpose to each of my days. I am loved by others and I love others. When all else fails, love never will.

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Image Credits
Anna Bargeron and Rachel Thompson Moore

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