We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bethany McCamish a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Bethany, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My resilience built with every step I took away from the only truths I had ever known.
Growing up in a tumultuous home, where strict rules and extreme religious beliefs shaped my upbringing, I faced numerous challenges and experienced various forms of abuse. These circumstances could have easily shattered my spirit, but instead, they ignited a fire within me to create a brighter future. Through my journey of self-discovery, I learned to break free from the confines of oppressive traditions and embrace who I truly am.
Here’s how my experiences shaped me into the resilient individual I am today.
Breaking the Restrictions: The strict and limiting rules imposed upon me by my family and religious community acted as a catalyst for my resilience. Instead of succumbing to the suffocating expectations of modesty, silence, and early marriage ‘with as many children as I could have’, I recognized the need to break free from these expectations- because I never truly felt like it was the ‘right thing to do’ – even if that was touted as the virtuous pursuit. I discovered the strength within me to challenge these fringe societal norms and question the oppressive beliefs that had been forced upon me.
Overcoming Abuse and Concealment: Living in an abusive environment, where violence and mistreatment were concealed behind the façade of religion, tested my resilience to the core. I had to navigate the complexities of abuse and manipulation while searching for a way to reclaim my voice and protect myself. All I can say is- thank the Universe for therapy and all those who supported me on healing the trauma.
Pursuing Education and Independence: In my pursuit of a better future- something other than what I was prescribed as a woman in the church, education became my lifeline. Despite the discouragement and limitations imposed upon me, I persisted in seeking knowledge- taking an early entrance college exam at 15 and getting in. Education provided me with the tools to break free from the constraints of my upbringing and empowered me to pursue independence and self-sufficiency. I learned about things that had been left out of my homeschool and sheltered education like Women’s Rights. Through hard work and determination, I carved a path for myself that defied the expectations set upon me. I continued my education all way through grad school – earning a BFA and MAT- building my first career as a teacher.
Advocacy and Empowering Others: My experiences have instilled in me a deep empathy for others who have faced similar challenges- those who carry the shame of wanting more. Truly my work today as a brand agency owner is shaped by the feeling I had often growing up of being both ‘too much and not enough’- all at the same time.This is not a singular feeling – as I see many women- especially women who are venturing in entrepreneurship feel this way and not have the tools to stand-out and take up space. This fuels what I do, helping them carve out their spot in the world, not only to be noticed, but to be seen.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am the CEO and founder of Bethany Works®, a strategic design agency and podcast host for the Unbreakable Brands® podcast. I unearth what makes businesses stand out and step up through strategic, psychology-backed branding and web design services.
I am the expert behind experts like you. After years spent refining my design and storytelling skills as an English and graphic design teacher, curator for shows in the Pacific Northwest Arts community, and a leader in the design industry I traded in my corporate and
classroom keys in 2019 for a laptop and a singular mission: To help entrepreneurs choose timeless over trendy in order to help them build long-term growth, impact, and legacy.
Out of the belief, Bethany Works® was born and today, I spend my time building strategic, psychology-backed brands that can’t be ignored- helping women-owned businesses be seen.
If you’re wondering how, it’s my signature psychology-backed approach and the belief that forcing clients into a design box—a certain style, aesthetic, preference, or trend never works. Rather, I study how a brand can best connect with their people and then bring out those elements through visual design. Secondly, I will never confuse strategic, intentional design with stale, stagnant design. I believe a brand can be both thought out and cutting-edge, no compromises necessary.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I regularly work with multi-figure business owners and entrepreneurs to build rock-solid stand out brands. Regardless of industry or expertise – these are the top 3 traits they all bring to the table that allowed them to continue to scale and leave more than an imprint, but an actual impact.
Consistency – showing up, everyday, to do the work. Even when things are slow, scary, consuming or difficult. The grit that comes with consistency is a skill that they all carry.
A Deeply Rooted Belief – the work they are doing- whether selling a product, offering education and courses, curating a guest experience, or delivering a service is directly tied to making the world better in some way. They know that what they are doing is helpful, important, intentional, and creates more good in the world while also creating massive wealth for themselves and their families. They know the two can go hand-in-hand.
Resilience – the ability to recover -with grace- from hardships, challenges or difficulties of all kinds is last on this list – but one of the most important. Whether this resilience stems from an upbringing as it does in my case or from late circumstances like failed launches, sickness, etc- they have the ability to continue on.
How would you describe your ideal client?
My aim is to serve fierce visionaries and tenacious creative entrepreneurs on a mission to elevate their multi-figure brand- so they can leave more than an imprint, but instead an impact.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bethanyworks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethanyworksdesign/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethany-mccamish/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/bethanyworks
- Other: https://unbreakablebrands.com/
Image Credits
Summer Hughes Photography