Bethany Hilton: Rebuilding Trust Between Business And IT

Thank you for listening to the Business Blast podcast. So for all my listeners out there that have been wanting to do your own podcast, I'd like to introduce to you Anchor. Anchor is a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, distributing, and monetizing your podcast. So before I found Anchor, I had never actually done a podcast because all the research that I had gathered made it seem very complex. Then I found Anchor, and Anchor makes podcasting extremely simple. So if you want to do your own podcast, go to anchor.fm/start. I can't wait to hear your podcast. Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I have a very special guest, a good friend of mine, Bethany Hilton. She is an account manager for Improving, which is a software services firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. They do training, custom software development, and strategic staff augmentation. Our mission is to rebuild trust between business and it in order to help the companies we support to flourish. So welcome to the show, Bethany.

Hello, thanks for having me.

Of course, pumped to have you here. Uh, we'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you, Bethany, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

So the first thing that came to mind when you asked that question was kind of my career transition and how I came from being in a very small town with really just a high school degree to working in Dallas with amazing companies, big corporations, doing work that I love, and kind of that whole process over the course of the last almost decade, is a pretty cool story where I really had mentors and advisors that started to support me as I realized I had a passion for business. And then over time gave me opportunities to really build my skills. And that was huge because I didn't necessarily have access to the same resources that everyone else did as far as going to college and doing the whole 4-year degree and then internships and so on and so forth. And instead, I really got this kind of unique perspective on a career where I needed to take a level of, you know, self-interest and say, okay, how do I grow myself and how do I get there? And I had a lot of people that started to see that I wanted to grow and invested in me. And so I would say that the underlying valuable message about that story is really the fact that You can create anything for your life if you're just willing to let others help you, ask for help, and really lean into the things that you desire for your life.

And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

So I am in technology sales and account management, working with the clients, uh, spending a lot of time with people and interactions with them. And I would say that building relationships of trust is the most key thing you can do for your career, for your industry. It doesn't matter. Every company is going to be working with people. And so how you build trust through both intentions and capabilities is probably the most valuable skill that you can give, give yourself in your career because, and this is from the book, The Speed of Trust, but it talks about how the, the more trust you have built up in a relationship, the faster everything can move and the less it will cost. And so if you are trying to get deals done or you're trying to influence a change in an organization, the higher level of trust those people have in your capabilities to make change happen and also your good intentions that you want to see good things happen, not just for yourself but for them, those two factors, if you have them and you can build that high level of trust, you're going to accomplish way more than without it.

And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

So it's still kind of in the same vein as the last question, but business is people. And so if you can learn to connect and you can learn to serve and understand people, this is going to give you that influence and wisdom and power that you're looking for in order to make good things happen. And so I would say get to know people, get to know yourself, because that's going to give you insight into how other people are wired since you're human too. So get to know people.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

So I don't know if you know this song, Vienna by Billy Joel.

I do.

I love it. Yeah. Yeah, so he talks about how like slow down, you've got all this time, like experience the world around you. And that's been really impactful for me. But I think sometimes I was driving so hard towards a future and that I missed my moments. And so really, even as you're— everything that you're doing should be a foundation for your future. Also realize that this is your future. You may not get a tomorrow. And so enjoy and appreciate every last moment you have.

And it could tie in, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

So actually, it could tie in. I don't know. I mean, I guess the idea of living in the moment, people could say that, but for me, I don't live in the moment enough to really stand with that philosophy yet. I'm still working on it. But I would say that a life in service of others is very fulfilling. So when you have those moments where you've helped somebody get a job, or you've given them a piece of advice that changed how they interacted with their children, or When you can see that the things that you've done with your hands and your mind and your work has made a difference for somebody else, I think that's where you find real joy.

And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?

So I read this book called Crucial Conversations by Joseph Grenny, and it really helped me to develop both empathy and curiosity, which I think are key components to understanding people. And so he, his, one of his basic premises was that everyone, no matter how crazy their behavior appears to you, they could be like, you know, flipping tables in the local restaurant, like throwing things, doesn't matter. Whatever they're doing, somehow in their mind that appeared reasonable and rational to them. And so once you can get to that realization that, oh my goodness. What I perceive as crazy to that person made sense or they wouldn't do it. So then you can back up and say, what thought process or pattern would get them to this point where that makes sense? So people that have, you know, committed crimes and things like that, what got them to the point where they felt that was the only choice they had or that that was the best possible decision for them to make at that moment? And so when you give people that dignity of they thought they were making the best choice possible, then you can really understand where they're coming from and speak to that, which is where you might be able to influence change.

I love it. And what is your favorite quote and why?

So it's James Allen, who I have no idea who that is, but it's, "A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances." And I think that is so impactful to me because it talks about how We have so much more power than we realize. So we can't directly influence outcomes, but we can think about the way that we're approaching life and we can change our behaviors. And that's what makes us different from animals in that we're not just acting out of impulse. We have an ability to think through and make different decisions based on what we understand about the world. And so if we really think about what we're thinking about, and then think about how those thoughts are influencing our outcomes. I don't want to get too meta here, but as we think about that, we can really start to unpack what is a better way to approach this? What are different thoughts that might serve me better to reach the outcomes that I want? And how do I shift my mindset that will then shift my behavior?

And that is big. And I knew this was going to be a good one. So thank you for coming on, Bethany, the last The last question I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find you online?

So you can go to BethanyHilton.com. I'm not blogging as much these days since I'm doing more speaking, but I hope to put up some of my speeches soon. And then also if you find me on LinkedIn, Bethany Hilton is pretty easy. I'd be happy to connect with you there, but either one, I'd love to hear from you and kind of hear what your quotes are and what you're interested in.

Perfect, thanks again, Bethany, we appreciate you coming on.

Yeah.