Terri Batch - President and CEO of Global LA & Batch Global Strategies | Los Angeles Leaders - Los Angeles Leaders

Episode Transcript
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Narrator 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast, where
we dive deep into the stories ofthe visionaries shaping the
future of our region.
Hosted by Christopher Luna,this podcast brings you
conversations with the moversand shakers driving innovation,
leadership and community impactacross Los Angeles.
Whether you're an entrepreneur,a community leader or simply

(00:21):
someone passionate about makinga difference, this podcast is
your gateway to the insights andinspiration you need to lead
and succeed.
Get ready to be inspired by theleaders making waves in Los
Angeles and beyond.

Narrator 2 (00:36):
In this episode we welcome Terry Batch, president
and CEO of Global LA and BatchGlobal Strategies.
She holds a Bachelor of Sciencein Computer Science from
Spelman College and a Master ofPublic Administration from the
University of SouthernCalifornia.
Fluent in Mandarin Chinese andcertified as a Global Logistics
Specialist and Global BusinessProfessional, she has guided US

(00:56):
businesses and governmentleaders across Asia, europe,
africa and Latin America.
Mrs Terry Batch is the founderand principal of Batch Global
Strategies, a strategic advisoryfirm dedicated to advancing
inclusive international trade,investment promotion and global
market expansion.
In addition to leading BGS, mrsBatch serves as President and

(01:19):
CEO of Global LA, apublic-private partnership
committed to positioning LosAngeles as a premier global hub
for business, innovation andinternational collaboration.
Notably, she led two landmarkoverseas events with the US
Embassy in Paris to promote LosAngeles ahead of the 2024 Summer
Olympics, and at the US Embassyin Tokyo ahead of Major League

(01:42):
Baseball's Tokyo Series.
Mrs Batch spent over 20 years atthe US Department of Commerce,
wrapping up her career as thedirector of the Global Diversity
Export Initiative within the USCommercial Service.
She championed the globalexpansion of minority women,
lgbtq+, veteran anddisabled-owned businesses.
Mrs Batch's leadership has beenrecognized with numerous

(02:05):
accolades, including bronze andsilver medal awards from the US
Department of Commerce and theprestigious William E Morton
Memorial Award for Excellence inDiversity and Inclusion.
Please welcome Terry Batch.

Christopher Luna (02:20):
Welcome to another episode of Los Angeles
Leaders.
I'm your host, christopher Luna.
Today we have an incredibleguest making incredible waves
globally on the internationalstage Terry Batch.
Thank you for being here today.
You have an incredible story.

Terri Batch (02:33):
Thank you, thanks for having me.

You know, before these big stages and
before the embassies and all theboardrooms that you're involved
in, who is Terry Batch growingup?
Tell me a little bit about yourbackground.
Wow, you want to know.
Who is Terry Batch growing up.
Tell me a little bit about yourbackground.

Wow, you want to know who is Terry Batch.
People ask me that all the time.
You know I am just a regular,just girl who came from Georgia,
who arrived in Los Angeles.
I want to say, 26 years agothis year I've been living,
living in LA and you know I amfrom very humble beginnings,

(03:10):
single mom, first generationcollege student.
But I've been, I've hadincredible opportunities in my
life and when opportunities havepresented themselves, I have
just taken them.
And so it started, you know,from high school and applying to
Spelman College and deciding togo to an all-female,

(03:32):
historically black college andwhile I was there, having the
opportunity to study in Chinaand taking that opportunity and
then from there, getting afellowship with the Commerce
Department.
So that's how my career ininternational trade really
started.
That's how I got my foot in thedoor was having a Ron Brown
fellowship To coming here andstudying at USC for a Master's

(03:55):
of Public Administration andgoing to Taiwan to study and
just all of those life-changingopportunities that were
presented to me and taking them,and I ended up here where I am
today, having worked around theworld in various different
markets helping US companies dobusiness and now helping

(04:19):
businesses come to the LosAngeles area.

Well, you summed it up all in 30 seconds,
but I'm not going to let you getaway with that.
You know I've met you almost, Ithink a little over a year ago.
We were at the LAEDC Select LAConference.

Is that where we met?

I think that's where we met.
And we're going in theescalator.
And it's funny because I'vealways meet the.
You know you go to these largeconferences and it's always a
person you kind of walk in withor walk out with that, you have
a connection right.
That's why they say theelevator pitch is very important
, and when I met you, I thinkI'm not sure how long you've
already been with Global LA atthat point I probably had just

(05:01):
started.

It was around the time I just started, okay.

So you know we briefly spoke, but over the
year I've come across andinteracted with you quite, quite
a bit.
I've seen you literally on aglobal stage and you represent
such a vast community and yourbackground is so impressive to
me and obviously we heard yourbackground.
But what I want to understandis if you're a young lady today

(05:28):
going to college or just kind ofstarting your career, like how
did you get to where you're atnow, like let's talk about kind
of your upbringing, because Ithink that has a lot to say
about who you are as a person.
So I know you kind of summed itall up real quick but, you know,
what I really want to know andbe able to have the audience
understand is who was TerryBatch growing up Like?

(05:51):
How were you, what were thesesignals that that you had
growing up that led you tointernational Cause?
You talked about traveling toChina and studying abroad and
all that.
But I mean, how did that happen?
How did that get there?

Well, you know, I think I had a very we were
talking, you know, before westarted this um session.
I had a very interestingchildhood and just again um.
You know, I grew up in Georgiaand usually I'll tell people oh
yeah, I'm from Atlanta, buttruthfully I'm not from Atlanta,
I'm from South, but truthfullyI'm not from Atlanta, I'm from
South Georgia.

(06:24):
That's where my parents arefrom and just growing up in the
South and where things were veryblack and white, right, very
segregated even.
You know, I'm a kid of the 70sand the 80s, so when I was
introduced or exposed to newcultures it was always very

(06:45):
interesting to me because itwasn't something that was like
in my immediate everyday life.
So when I was younger I livedin South Georgia.
Actually, most people don't knowthis, but I was born in
Michigan.
I was born in Flint, michigan.
So my parents were a part ofthat great migration north,
coming out of the south to, youknow, get a better life.

(07:06):
They were married in Chicagoand then moved to Flint where my
dad worked in the GM plant,which is, you know, obviously no
longer there and then we movedback to Georgia when I was one.
So I always tell people I'mfrom Georgia because I don't
remember anything about Michigan.
But anyway, when my parentswere divorced, when I was little

(07:27):
and my mom remarried and wemoved to Atlanta and that was
like moving to the big city andI lived in a part of Atlanta
that was very diverse.
It was a lot of Latino, a lotof Asian, just a lot of
different cultures, and it waslike my first time being exposed
to that.
This was about 10 or 11.

(07:49):
I remember we lived in anapartment.
Our next door neighbors wereKorean, our downstairs neighbors
were Mexican.
I remember just beingfascinated by that the different
languages and the cultures, thedifferent foods, the different
smells.
You know I would smell Koreanfood and tacos, you know, as a

(08:10):
kid.
So when I went to high school wemoved again and where I went to
high school was kind of northof Atlanta, in Gwinnett County,
and the high school I went towas very diverse.
It was like the UN at this highschool and so I had classmates
that were from all over theworld and I took German in high

(08:32):
school because I wanted to bedifferent, and I had friends
that were from China.
I had one friend who wasTaiwanese, who's still my friend
to this day, and another friendthat was from China, mainland
China and I would go to theirhouse, I would eat their food.
I would, you know, just kind ofsee how they interacted.
It was kind of odd to me, theywould take their shoes off when

(08:53):
they walked in the door or, youknow, they had a whole separate
kitchen outside where they wouldcook all their oily foods.
So, you know, it was justreally fascinating to me and I
was also fascinated by justtheir journey, because my friend
, she was first generationAmerican and so, and her parents
had, came obviously to the USto to find a better life for

(09:13):
them.
And so my freshman year atSpelman, my interest when when
they said, oh, we want everySpelmanite to study abroad, my
first inkling was, oh, I want togo to China.
And so that's how I got there.
It was just a steadyprogression and I will say I
think I'll do a disservice if Idon't mention this when I grew

(09:35):
up I'm a church kid I grew up inthe church.
You know, every Sunday, sundaymorning, sunday night and
Wednesday night, I was at church.
But our church was very, had aworld vision for the church, and
so I was always constantlybeing introduced to different
cultures through a spiritualsense.
So it was almost this very likemission-driven type of church.

(09:57):
And so I remember they werelike you need to get a burden
for a certain area of the worldand you know, you pray for that
area of the world.
So I used to always pray forChina, for whatever reason.
It was just an area that thatalways stuck with me.
And so when I got the chance,when I went to the study abroad
coordinator at Spelman and Isaid I want to study in China,

(10:18):
and she looked at me kind oflike, really, like you mean
Tokyo or you know Japan, becausein the 90s that's where a lot
of people, if they went to Asia,they went to Japan.
And I was like, no, I want to goto Beijing.
And at the time I didn't evenknow how to say it, because on
paper it would say Peking.
You know, that was like one ofthe ways they used to write

(10:38):
Beijing.
And so I was like, yeah, I wantto go to this place, peking.
And so because they were sosupportive and they were like,
okay, well, we'll make it happen, I found a fellowship because
obviously I didn't have themoney or I didn't, other than my
friend from high school.
I didn't know anybody, so theyfound the money a fellowship.
This is a fellowship.

(11:00):
Up until recently that stillexisted for undergrad students
to study abroad and studylanguages that are not common,
so Chinese falls in thatcategory.
So I got that scholarship andwas able to go and study in
Beijing for six months.

And how old were you?

I was 20.

20.
And what do your parents oryour mom feel about that?

They were scared to death.
And I remember my brother wassaying why do you want to go
over there?
They don't treat women well.
And I was like I don't know, Ijust want to go check it out.
But yeah, they were superscared, but it was the same.

Moving to LA they were scared for me to move
to LA because I didn't knowanybody here.
But when you, when you went,did you already study the?
Language beforehand.
No, we were at an event justrecently.
It was the China, californiaforum and you introduced
yourself and what was theMandarin?
Or?

Mandarin yeah.

So, and and it was incredible because you, you
earned the respect as well, soyou, you studied the language
before then I did not as amatter of fact.

Like I said, I studied German in high school
and so I got to China.
I knew, I think I knew Ni Hao,I think, because I remember my
classmate's mom.
She kind of prepped me how tosay hello, how to say where's
the toilet and how to say thankyou.
Right, those are like threevery important things you need

(12:25):
to know.
So I started learning Chinesein Beijing and I tell people
that was probably the best thingever because I didn't learn it
wrong.
You know, a lot of times youlearn a language and it's like
textbook language and you knowyou don't get.
And Chinese is one of thoselanguages where you really need
to get the pronunciationcorrectly, otherwise you know

(12:47):
they won't know what you'resaying.
So to be able to hear it, toexperience it, to see it on a
24-hour basis, when I'm learningthe foundation and I had a
great professor who was like myfirst professor, it was
wonderful.

And when you're there, I mean the
Coldford.
They're so respectful when yourespect their traditions as well
.
So when you're there and it'sreally truly out of curiosity
and you really want tounderstand their traditions and
you respect it.
They're very you know, they'reopen arms.
I haven't been to mainlandChina, but actually I went to
Hong Kong right after highschool with a friend of mine to

(13:29):
visit his grandmother, and theonly reason why I went was
because my mom pushed me.
I'm like I didn't want to go.
I don't you know right, whatare you?
Talking about.
He invited me.
I'm like, what am I gonna doover there?
It was such an experience.

Narrator 1 (13:40):
You know to this day .

I have such such great memories of being out
there for so long and I wish Iwould have stayed.
I mean, you would learn so much.
And actually I was with StephenChung just recently and he was
telling me about his upbringingin Hong Kong and you know, it's
beautiful and, like I said, Ilove the tradition.

Yeah.

And sometimes, being here in the United States
, we don't have that sense oftradition or that history,
especially like Japan.
They're so traditional as well.
So that's another beautifulcountry.
But tell me about yourtransition back to the United
States.
I mean, what?
What did you do when you, whenyou got back?

Yeah, well, I will just say, just in relation to
what you said about theirculture and the respect said
about their culture and therespect you know, and obviously
I'm an African-American woman,right, and I've had people ask
me well, you're black, how didthey treat you?
And I didn't have negativeexperiences.
I know that there were someunderpinnings because I think,

(14:39):
in terms of just, you know, whenthey see someone, a person, a
black person, they don't quiteknow, they thought I was African
and I would have to tell themno, I'm American.
But you know, I never had anegative experience.
I just wanted to throw that outthere.
In terms of, you know,interacting with Chinese and

(15:00):
even to this day, you know,especially, I think, because I
speak the language, I'm treatedin a way that is very respectful
and I always say I've never meta Chinese person that's not my
friend, you know, because I'mable to talk to them.
And then also, going back toHong Kong, when I went to China
the first time, I went to HongKong and it is literally one of
my favorite cities in the world.

(15:21):
It's such a cool place to beand, you know, learning about
their history and how it's sucha melting pot, is very similar
to LA, where you have peoplefrom just all over the world
that are in Hong Kong, so I'mglad you got that experience.

I am.
I'm looking forward to goingback, for sure, yeah totally
yeah.

Coming back to the US, it was weird.
You know, I went back toSpelman, so this was my junior
year when I studied in Beijing,and then I came back and I only
studied for six months because Iwas a computer science major
and as as a computer sciencemajor, if I would have stayed a
whole year I would havegraduated late.
So I didn't stay the whole time.

(16:04):
I used that as a time to takeelectives and stuff.
So I came back and I continuedto study Chinese.
I studied it actually at ClarkAtlanta, which is like the
adjacent campus to Spelman.
There was only two universitiesin Atlanta at the time that had
Mandarin programs it was ClarkAtlanta and it was Emory.

(16:24):
You couldn't take Chineseanywhere else.
So I did that and I knew Iwanted to do something
international, but I was on thiscomputer science track already
and so I was trying to justfigure it out.
I wanted to continue to learnChinese, I wanted to continue to

(16:44):
explore this internationalcareer path, but I had no idea
how to do it.
And so, again, that's where youknow there's different doors
open talking to different people.
Through the fellowship I hadfrom the Commerce Department
that I told you about, I got achance to go to Berkeley, uc
Berkeley for the summer after myjunior year I did a program

(17:07):
called PPIA, which is PublicPolicy and International Affairs
.
It's still around today andthat program really opened me up
to careers in internationalaffairs that I didn't know exist
.
I didn't know really about theState Department or that you
know.
I knew when I got the CommerceDepartment fellowship it was to

(17:27):
become a foreign service officer.
That was the original intent,but I didn't even know what that
meant really.
So being able to just again likewalk through these open doors
that are presented to me and goin with an open mind, open heart
about what I can do or what'spossible, that's how I've gotten

(17:49):
from one place to the next.
So, uc Berkeley, that's where Ilearned about a master's of
public administration, and sowhen I went back to Spelman for
my senior year, I knew my senioryear I was going to go and go
on to grad school.
I wasn't planning to go intothe workforce and so I just
started applying for master'sprograms and that's how USC came

(18:11):
apart.
I actually got accepted toseveral programs around the
country, but because USC hadsuch a strong focus on Asia, I
decided to come to USC because Iknew I wanted to continue to
pursue Asia and Asia studies andbuild on my China knowledge.

So when you came to USC, what age were you
at that point?

Oh gosh, so I was what 20?
21.
Wow I think it was 21.

So and again.
And the reason why I ask againis because think about the
person that's studying right now, right, oh, yeah, and that's
what I'm trying to like.
Visualize right If you're inyour early twenties, think of
the exposure you've already hadat that point Um, and and, and
your want to come to Los Angelesto continue studying that at
USC.
And obviously it's a greatcollege.
What was that experience likehere in LA?

It was again.
It was every trend.
When I look back, everytransition I had has been
difficult.
It's been difficult but it'salso been life changing.
So you know, whenever you knowthey talk about when you level
up, every time you level up inlife you got to adjust.
And so coming to LA was was Itell people moving to LA from

(19:24):
Georgia was harder.
It was harder to come to LAthan it was to go to Beijing,
and I'll tell you why.
Beijing was a new country, newculture.
You know you expect itdifferent.
Moving across country.
I didn't expect it to be sodifferent but it was.
And LA isA is just like a.
It's a big city but there's allthese little communities within

(19:47):
a big city and so you have tokind of find your tribe in LA,
and it took me two, three yearsto find my tribe.

Did you come with anyone or were you by
yourself?
I was by myself.

Did you move in?

with anyone you already knew I did.

So let me tell you.
So this goes back to the wholechurch thing.
So when I moved to LA my churchin Atlanta my pastor knew a
pastor here in Santa Monicaactually, and so he connected me
with that pastor in SantaMonica and they were really big
into like discipleship livingand things like that.

(20:23):
And so when I moved here, Imoved to Santa Monica and I
lived with a family which islike they were amazing.
They're an amazing family.
I don't see them as much today,but they had three daughters
who are all amazing artists.
They were Tongva, the TongvaIndians that were the original
inhabitants of this land, andthey're all amazing Tongva

(20:44):
artists today.
So I lived with a family and Iwas a part of a church when I
moved here.
So that was kind of my tribe.
But even then that was a reallyrough transition while and I was
, you know, commuting, obviouslyfrom Santa Monica downtown to
USC for my classes, and that wasalso I have to put a plug in,
because if I don't mention him,from Santa Monica downtown to
USC for my classes, and that wasalso I have to put a plug in,

(21:05):
because if I don't mention himhe's going to be like you didn't
talk about me.
I met my husband when I was atUSC, so he was a second year
when I was a first year and so Ithink also meeting him and him
being from LA, he grew up inCarson, which is where we live
today, him being from LA, hegrew up in Carson, which is
where we live today Having thatas an anchoring helped.

(21:28):
But I talk to people all thetime when they say, oh yeah, la
is so cool, I want to move to LA.
Sometimes I'm just like, areyou sure?
Because LA is a big place andyou just got to know, kind of
where, you got to know yourselfyourself too, and I think a lot
of people come, can come hereand get lost, right, and
especially if they get caught upin the, in the glitz and the

(21:50):
glamour of of LA and um, so youknow, yeah, I think if you're
not from LA it's hard tounderstand.

I'm sure it takes takes some time, because
it definitely is.
You have all these differentcities that are, you know,
whether you're from Mexico oryou know talk about Chinatown
and Little Tokyo, but not justthose areas in downtown LA you
have where I'm from.
It's definitely large and Ithink a lot of people when you

(22:22):
think internationally or evenout of state, you think of Los
Angeles and I mentioned thisbefore.
You can be and they don't likethat I say it but you can be in
Orange County or Riverside orSan Bernardino or Ventura or
name another county, and LA iseverything.
Southern California, maybe SanDiego is a little different,
right.
Because, it's a little furtherout.
When you're here, like I said,if you don't find your place,

(22:50):
it's hard to stay positivebecause you're a small fish in
this huge world.

In a big pond.
It's so funny from aninternational perspective, when
I talk to internationalcompanies that want to come to
LA and they think they know LA,but they don't know LA.
You know they know Hollywood orthey know Beverly Hills, and
then or they'll be like, oh yeah, we're coming to LA and, like

(23:15):
you said, they're going to be inthe Inland Empire, they're in
San Bernardino.
I'm like that's not LA.
So really, um, this is such avast place, it really is country
, it's a, it's a, it's a wholecountry right here in just Los
Angeles County and you've gotall these different, like I said
, communities and you reallyjust have to find your.

(23:36):
You have to find your peopleand I, you know, once I did find
my people, I'll tell you Ican't imagine and I've been to a
lot of places around the worldbut I can't imagine living
anywhere else.

I come across a lot of well-traveled people
like you and that's one of myquestions.
It's like what's keeping youhere?
I mean, I know people havetraveled all over Europe, all
over Asia and the Middle Eastand they always come back to LA
and that I mean, I'm that kidthat's born and raised here that
just wants to leave.

(24:09):
I've been wanting to leave mywhole life and if it was up to
my parents they would be okaywith it.

Narrator 1 (24:14):
I mean we're a very strong, close family.

All my siblings live nearby and it
would be very hard for us towalk away from our family more
than anything.
But I think everyone would beso positive about it because we
love to experience that.
And even when we sold ourfamily business, I told my wife
I'm like, pick a place in theworld, let's just go, our kids
are young.
But it's scary because again Icome across people like you and

(24:40):
I'm like okay, so what's keepingyou here scary?

because I, again, I come across people like you and
I'm like, okay, so what'skeeping you here?
Okay, well, let me just say I'm, I'm.
I'm you in the sense of growingup in in the Georgia and then
Atlanta and going to school andso many people moving to Atlanta
.
Especially when I moved here,everybody I met was like, oh
well, so and so yeah, they justI have a friend or my family or
whatever.
They were moving to Atlantawhen I came here because, you

(25:04):
know, cost of living is cheaper.
You know, people go to Georgia.
It's beautiful in Georgia.
You know, one of the things Imiss are the trees, you know.
So there's great things aboutGeorgia and Atlanta, but I don't
want to live there becausethat's not here.
And I'll tell you here, whatmakes LA special is it doesn't

(25:24):
matter what you're into good,bad or whatever you can find it
in LA.
It doesn't matter what type offood you like, you can find it
in LA.
It doesn't matter what type ofentertainment.
Every community that you canthink of it's here in LA and
it's also it's not.
It's very multicultural,multi-everything here in Los

(25:51):
Angeles, and I think that's thesecret sauce that makes this
place work and having so manydifferent points of view and you
know you can never learneverything about LA, because
I'll discover new communitiesand new neighborhoods all the
time.

And it's so open to all these different
verticals and industries whereyou know you go to I don't want
to say the state or the city,but you go to these specific
areas and they're known for acertain sector, that one
industry and that one industry,right yeah.

And when that industry goes away, like a place
like Flint Michigan, which was,you know, the car manufacturing
where my dad worked.
I mean the whole communitysuffers, and I mean and not to
say there's not downturns.
Here, I know the aerospacesector took a big hit, I think
in the 90s.
Here I know the aerospacesector took a big hit, I think
in the 90s.
Here, you know, theentertainment industry has had

(26:46):
its challenges and headwindscurrently.
So there are challenges, but itdoesn't devastate the entire
economy.

It's like a stock portfolio, right, yeah,
it's so diverse, right, it'sdiversified, exactly so it's
hard, and that's what makes itso resilient, right, when we
have these issues and talk aboutthe fires and everything that
we've gone through this year.

There's so many challenges, yeah, yeah, and you
know what I would also add?
That makes LA special, and Ithink people from LA take it for
granted because you're justused to it Not just the
diversity, but just thecreativity.
You know, people are very like,just creative.

(27:29):
They're so creative and just Ilove the entrepreneurial spirit
that's here.
I mean, if you want to be anentrepreneur, la is really the
place to be for that.

Yeah, I mean when we had our family business,
I would always say it's likelook, we don't really have to
look outside of LA.

No, you don't.

If we could just kind of dominate, not even.

LA just a percentage of LA right.

We'll be fine.
There's enough business herefor everyone there's enough
business.

You know for sure I mean what.
What is this?
The 20th largest economy in theworld, I think, is where LA
falls, right now LA County,which is like amazing.
I mean, we're bigger than mostcountries.

I thought I heard 14.

It might have moved up.

Maybe it's 14th or 17th.

Narrator 1 (28:15):
I know.

Stephen would know Stephen can like roll off all
the stats, that's what.

I love about him, so with I mean, I'm just
thinking of my kids and actuallythat's what I really like about
this platform and this show,where I come across leaders like
you and actually my son, who'sturning 10, he'll listen to it
with me in the car, so he'slearning a lot to it with me in

(28:46):
the car, so he's learning a lotIf I was, and maybe you can tell
me how your kids are growing upnow and how you can give me
some advice on that.
But if we were to give them thatopportunity to study abroad?
I think, with with me.
Before I got married, I wasable to travel to Europe and
Hong Kong and other places.
But once you get married,things change and it's it's hard
to move and kind of be thatfree spirit, right, yes, so what
are some of those things thatyou would help our children kind

(29:09):
of grow up to and give themthat experience to travel the
world?
And ultimately hopefully theycome back, but who knows, maybe
they find someone over there andstay, I know.

Well, it's interesting you asked me that
question because I do have twodaughters, one that just
finished her first year ofcollege, so proud of her, and
then one that is a high schoolstudent going to the 11th grade,
and one of the philosophies orthings that I've incorporated,
and this is, I take full creditbecause my husband studied

(29:41):
abroad too.
He studied abroad in London andthen he also went to, like,
jamaica when he was in college.
So, and oh, and when he was akid growing up in Carson because
Carson has a sister city withJapan, a city outside of Tokyo
he went to Japan as a highschool student.
So he's had internationalexperiences.
But when I tell you he is LAthrough and through and through,

(30:03):
he is LA through and through.
He doesn't want to liveanywhere else, and that's part
of what's kept me here, becauseif it was my choice, I would
have joined the Foreign Service.
I would have been like come on,let's go.
You know, let's changecountries every three to five
years, let's go see the world.
But my husband's like um, yougo, I'll be here when you get

(30:24):
back.
So, um, with my girls, thoughI've been very intentional, um,
about taking them with me when Igo places.
If it's possible for me, for meto take them, you better
believe I'm gonna.
You know, whatever I'm doingfor work, I'm gonna make sure
that.
Know, whatever I'm doing forwork, I'm going to make sure
that's there.
But I always since when theybecame teenagers, not when they

(30:46):
were little, because whenthey're little they don't really
know what they're doing orwhere they're going.
Your son, that's 10, maybe inanother year or two he'll be
ready.
That's like prime time toreally start exposing him to
like different parts of theworld or taking him with you
when you go on a business trip,that sort of thing.
So I, the first internationaltrip I took my girls on, was to

(31:08):
Dubai.
I was doing a conference and Iwas like, you know, kind of do
the numbers, like do, do, do howmuch are plane tickets?
Oh, I think we could swing that.
I got to buy three extra planetickets, my husband and then and
my, my girls, and so and andthat, and that was life-changing
for them to just go and seeDubai.
And they got to play.

(31:29):
They went skiing orsnowboarding or tubing inside
the mall in Dubai because theyhave a ski lift thing, and then
they were on a ropes course thatafternoon and we went up to the
top of the Burj Khalifa, allthese really cool things that
they got to do while mommy wasworking.
A ropes course that afternoon.
And you know, we went up to thetop of the Burj Khalifa, all
these like really cool thingsthat they got to do, you know,
while mommy was working.
You know I didn't get to do it.
I did go to the top of the BurjKhalifa, but all the other

(31:50):
stuff I didn't get to do.
But then I got an opportunity togo to Africa and I said, oh
well, can I bring my kids?
Like, sure, do, do, do you know, do the math.
Okay, I think I can swing threeextra tickets.
And my husband was a little bithesitant about going to Africa
and I said, look, bro, me andthe girls, we're going to Africa
.
So if you, if we're going toUganda and Rwanda, you either

(32:13):
get on this train or we'll seeyou when we get back.
And so he was like, oh, I thinkI can clear my schedule and I
will tell you that waslife-changing.
It was life-changing for us asa family to travel and to go
back to the continent, and thenalso for my girls, because I
speak Chinese and one of thestories I always tell people.

(32:34):
When I got to China, what blewme away and this is how I knew I
was disadvantaged, because ifyou would have told me I was
disadvantaged when I was in highschool, I would have been like
no, I ain't disadvantaged.
I mean, I don't have as muchmoney as these other people, but
I'm doing, we're okay, you know.
But when I got to Beijing and Iwas with other my classmates
and they had all either beenstudying Chinese since high

(32:58):
school and had already hadinternational experience, or
they grew up overseas becausetheir parents had these
corporate jobs or they wereforeign service kids, and I was
like, oh, I didn't even know youcould do that as a kid.
So I didn't want to have mykids, when they got to college,
have that shock of, wow, you'vealready, you already, you've had
a passport.
Like as a kid I didn't know youcould do that, you know.

(33:20):
So those are the types ofopportunities that, as a parent,
for me, because I know better,it's like when you know better,
you do better, because I knowbetter I was like you know what
you guys are gonna.
Well, we gotta get them apassport and they're coming
wherever we go, even if it'sjust a.
It doesn't have to be a workthing, it could just be um, a
vacation.

(33:40):
Let's go to on a vacationsomewhere outside of the US so
that they could experience it.
And I'll just say this onething I did with my daughter
because I had them in Chinesefrom really small.
They were like the one blackkid with all these Asian kids in
.
Saturday Chinese school.
I sent my daughter to Taiwanfor the summer.
It was when she turned, she was16.

(34:03):
And I found a program.
I talked to some folks and theywere like, oh, there's this
great program and it's mostlyTaiwanese.
Kids go back to Taiwan and it'slike a way for them to stay
connected to being, you know,that identity, that Chinese but
Taiwanese identity.
So it was a month-long program.
I flew over with my daughterdaughter, got her situated and

(34:24):
left her you flew with her Iflew with her and then and she
did have a friend I foundsomebody who was brave enough to
let their daughter stay for awhole month in taiwan as well.
That's good, and she went andspent a whole month and that was
before she graduated highschool, you know.
So imagine her perspective andthen also just her essays that

(34:47):
she was able to write forcollege because, having survived
on her own and they flew backon their own, I didn't go back
to get them.
I had to do something else thatI wasn't able to go, but just I
wanted them to have thatexperience because it's so
life-changing, it's so itprovides a perspective that you
cannot get unless you get on aplane and you go outside of the.

US.
It's great that you give thatsupport, because I think a lot
of parents I mean probably me Idon't know how I would be
sending my 16 year old daughteroverseas.
You know it's scary.
Well, it depends on where yousend them.

Taiwan is like one of the safest places in the
world, I mean, and they don'teven China to a certain extent,
they don't bother foreigners.
You could be out, you know 1o'clock in the morning People
are out eating and shopping andyou know.
It's just a different culture,a different society.
But when I tell you she had ablast, she met new friends, she

(35:44):
learned to navigate a publictransportation system and you
know just little things.
You know life skills.

that she was able to build.
I don't know how to navigatethe LA metro here which is bad
Me either?

No, no me either.

But if you take me to London.
I know how.

Right Any other city in the world, but you know
what LA is going to get there.
We're going to get there.

I mean it's growing quite a bit.
Obviously, we're preparing forthe games, but before we get
there, tell me about your careerat the US Department of
Commerce, because you were therefor some time.

I was there for almost 21 years, which is crazy.
People look at me and like what?
And I'm like, yeah, I guessI've aged well.
So I started at the governmenthere in Los Angeles.
So when I graduated from gradschool at USC, it was a little

(36:37):
bit of a hiccup because when Igraduated, 9-11 had just
happened, so there was a hiringfreeze.
When George W Bush waspresident, I think one of the
first things he did was did ahiring freeze even, I think,
before 9-11.
So it was really hard to getinto the government at that time
.
It took me some time to get in.
But then when I had to do somemaneuvering, I went back to

(37:01):
school, did a program at CalState, long Beach in global
logistics, which was great,great information.
But I was able to transition asa.
At the time they had thisprogram where you were a student
and you could be a student andthen also kind of intern at the
government and then they couldtransition you in without a
non-compete type transition intoa career position.
Obviously, all that stuff haschanged.

(37:21):
I don't even give anybody thatadvice anymore, but that was the
way I was able to get my footin the door and also with my
fellowship that I had anobligation to go work for the US
government.
So I started here in the West LAoffice.
I worked in that office for allthose years with the same boss,
same colleagues.
I used to always tell people Iwas the last one hired.

(37:44):
Those are the type of jobsnobody leaves.
You know you get your foot inthe door of the government and
you know the pay initially ispretty low.
You're not, you're not gettingprivate sector pay.
But you know you stay, you moveup and then you know after some
time you're on par with theprivate sector in terms of what
you make.
So I stayed and then I probablyhad like four jobs while I was

(38:08):
at the Commerce Department, so Ididn't do the same job for 20
years.
I started their China team,which is something that they
recognized that they needed toreally be able to support US
companies doing business inChina.
So I established that I alsoheaded up their design and
construction team, so helpingcompanies like architects and

(38:28):
engineers and buildingconstruction-type products,
helping those types of companiesto sell their products around
the world.
And then, before I left, Iheaded up what we call the
Global Diversity ExportInitiative, which is really
looking at underserved andunder-resourced communities and
bringing the resources of thefederal government to businesses
from those communities, becausewe found that a lot of the

(38:50):
companies at you know whetherit's in a minority businesses or
women-owned businesses.
They just don't know theresources that were available to
support them doing businessaround the world.
So I headed up that outreach sothat we would make sure we were
reaching various differentcommunities that just didn't
know about the services of thegovernment.

(39:12):
And I will say the highlight ofheading that up was taking a
trade mission.
So after I came back fromUganda and Rwanda and had that
fabulous trip where I wasintroduced to the continent and
my family was able to come withme, I did a trade mission to
South Africa, ghana and Nigeriaand took mostly black-owned
businesses and a lot ofblack-led organizations to the

(39:35):
continent for the purpose ofbridging that gap between the
diaspora and the continent.
So that was definitely a careerhighlight and something that I
always point to as that was oneof my proudest moments.

That's incredible.
You mentioned that you had adirect all those years.
Is that the person I know thatyou introduced me to?

Julianne Hennessy.

No, okay, are you talking about richard
swanson?
So, richard swanson was myboss's boss, okay, and he was my
boss for most of that time,yeah yeah, when I met him the
first time at the chinacalifornia forum last year and
uh, you know it was after theevent and we're at the lounge

(40:22):
talking and he was telling meabout the foreign service
position and just kind of givingme some insights on that and
you know, it opens up so muchopportunity and I'm like man, if
I would have known about thesethings before then, I would have
loved to, to experience, yeah,a lot of people just don't know
that it's a career opportunity.

I mean, obviously, the current climate and with the
federal government is not aplace where I would encourage
people to say, yeah, look forjobs here, and you know the
typical places because there'sso much transition.
But I mean, the Foreign Serviceis an incredible career.
Service is an incredible career.

(41:07):
It is an opportunity torepresent the US around the
world and to take your family,you know, and or to have a
family Most people you knowthey're, you know you start, you
do start young and you could do20, 30 years in the foreign
service and really moving fromcountry to country and you could
be in China one year andZimbabwe the next.
There's no rhyme or reason.
They really move you where theneed is and then they train you.

(41:29):
So if you don't speak thelanguage you know say I'm a
Mandarin speaker if I need tospeak French, or if I need to
speak Japanese or Russian, youknow you go through language
training before they put you inthose environments.

I think what I love about that is all the
etiquette of that training,because I remember one time
where I currently work, I wasasked to receive the council
general of Mexico and they saidit so lightly, right.
But then I'm like, okay, thisis a big deal.

Narrator 2 (41:55):
Like how am I?

receiving the council general of Mexico.
There's a certain way toapproach it.
We're sitting down in theconference room.
I'm like, okay, which side doeshe sit on?
And there's all these protocolsthat in every country is
different right.
So I would love to learn Ican't say all of that- but I
would love to learn most of that.

Yeah, well, you do learn by doing.
There's a really great book.
I think I'm probably going tobutcher the title.
It's like Kiss bow or shakehands and it goes through like
every country in the world about, like their culture or their
etiquette, for you know what toexpect when you're doing
business.

Yeah, I mean, I get sent to these events and
there's a proper way tointroduce yourself and it's like
the two hands when you'regiving a business card to
someone from Asia.
That's what actually got mebusiness cards.
It took me three years to getbusiness cards.
I'm like okay, guys, I needcards You're going to send me to
all these events, Right, right?

And make sure you use both hands.
And when you receive their card, you've got to look at it,
admire it.
You can't just throw it in yourthing.

You know it's so funny though, because I used
to do that, not the two hands,but I used to do that previous
to it because it was out ofrespect.
It's like you're looking at itand it's not just like you don't
care about it.
I don't know I think.
a lot of that I've been kind of,I learned through my parents I
mean my parents' businessgrowing up.
So you've worked across thegovernment, nonprofit and public
sectors, sectors, privatesectors.

(43:20):
This show taps into leadership,leadership style.
Who are some of your mentors ofwhat you kind of captured
throughout your years and yourpositions?
And what are some of yourleadership styles right now,
kind of moving forward in yourcareer?

Well, you know, I was very fortunate going back to
the Commerce Department becauseI was there for so long.
I had a great boss and when youasked me about Richard, richard
was my boss's boss I had afemale boss, julianne Hennessy.
She's recently retired from theCommerce Department, but she

(43:58):
was my boss, my most immediateboss, the whole time, and I'll
tell you, I remember coming inunder her and she gave us space.
You know she was a good boss inthat.
You know we knew we had to doour job and she was a great
leader in the sense of sheshowed us how to do the job, but

(44:19):
she wasn't like an iron fist,like you got to do it this way
and she gave us lead, way tofigure out how we could best
work and do what we needed to doto accomplish what we wanted to
accomplish right or to meet ourcriteria, Because we're a value
.
You got your mid-year reviews,you got your end of year review

(44:40):
and you got to show results.
It's like, if I come to the endof the year and I don't have
results, it's like, okay, well,we got to have our conversation
and the other thing that Ireally respected about her is
that and we were an office fullof women, which was very rare as
well.
I was able to be a mom.
She gave me the space that Ineeded to have to bring two

(45:04):
souls into this world and stillkeep my career, and I've talked
to so many women who said thatyou know, yeah, well, once I had
my kid, I had to leave my jobor I had to go find and do
something else I never had.
I was never faced with thatchallenge.
I had a boss who was sosupportive.
You know, kid you got to pickyour kid up from school or your
kid is sick.
You know, we always had thatflexibility to be able to do so

(45:29):
and even, like I said, eventraveling with my kids.
You know, no one ever was like,well, why do you have your kids
here?
I was able to do that, so I forfor me, when I look at young
people, I want them to look atyoung people.
I want them to be excellent andexecute at a high level, but I
also want them to have thatleverage to be able to just be

(45:49):
who they are, you know, and ifit's being able to get married
and have kids, great.
If it's not, if you want to bein a rock band you know and or
you want to you know, be anentrepreneur too, just having
that lead way to be able to dowhatever it is you want to do,
you know, while obviously stilldoing your job.

(46:11):
Um, I think people are mostshould be multifaceted.
I don't think they should justbe laser focused on one thing,
because what happens when thatone thing goes away you don't
have.
It's almost like that's how alot of times people's lives
crumble because they put alltheir eggs in one basket and
they don't have anything else tofall back on.
So for me, I want to be thetype of person who gives people

(46:37):
the space and the opportunity toexplore many things.

But at the same time, be firm in the
responsibilities.
There's got to be a high levelof execution.

You've got to execute at the highest levels
and with excellence.

But I think that when you give that person
their space and they're able toincorporate their family to what
they're doing like you said,bringing your kids
internationally and sometimes Ido the same I'll bring my son to
and I know where is appropriateright, yeah, yeah, everywhere
isn't appropriate.
Exactly, but it kind of, whenyou incorporate your family to

(47:11):
what you do, it makes your jobeven more meaningful, right.

Yes, yes.

And I think that that's what keeps you there
longer too, because you're notlooking elsewhere to try to help
fill that balance.

Get that balance Exactly.

Now I think that's important when you're
kind of retaining in yourposition at the US Commerce
Service.

US Commercial Service.

US Commercial Service.
You mentioned that CommercialService, us Commercial Service.
You mentioned that a lot ofpeople have been there for many
years.

Yeah.

That can be kind of good and bad.

Yes, I agree.

I'm thinking, if you were to hire me and I
were to work with you and you'vebeen there for 20-some-odd
years and your boss has beenthere for 20-some-odd years or
30 years.

I'm like, okay, how do I move up?

Right, If they're not moving right,
they're not going anywhere, sohow do you?

balance that.
So what I did, that's where I.
I said I had about fourdifferent jobs, so I wasn't like
, oh, I want to be the directorone day.
Um, I didn't have to.
I was able to get um promotedand have increases by because it
was such a the commercedepartment is such a vast
organization.
I was able to do other thingsand not be like, okay, well, I'm

(48:22):
just waiting for her to retireso that I can be promoted.
I think that can be a and and Iwill say la was special, la
southern california is a is aspecial place to work for the
federal government becauseyou're so far away from
Washington, and so it was goodand bad.

(48:42):
Good in the sense of you couldbe creative and do some
different things and have thatsupport of your management to do
those different things.
Bad in the sense of you don'tnecessarily have that direct
line with Washington, so theydon't know how fabulous you are
or the great things that you'redoing.
And so those promotionalopportunities unless you have

(49:03):
the eye of somebody inWashington, they don't really
know.
So, with that being said, goingback to your comment about
people that are there 20, 30years, that was part of the
reason why I left?
Because I was like okay, thisis fabulous, I've been doing
this for 20 years, but if I stay20 more I'm going to be so

(49:24):
stale and so out of touch.
I need to figure out a way totake this knowledge and what
I've done and what I've learnedat the federal government and
see how I can do it in adifferent context.
And when the Global LAopportunity came up, that's why
I was willing to take the jumpor take the leap, because I was

(49:46):
like I can't keep doing this for20 more years, whereas there
are people there 40 years.
They're in the federalgovernment and they're like the
brain trust.
They are the institutionaltreasures because they know how
things have worked.
They've worked throughdifferent administrations and
you know you want those types ofpeople but you don't want

(50:08):
everybody to be like that,because then it could just not
be a good thing, not be a goodthing.
So that was the thing thatprompted me to leave, because I
was like okay, 20 years.
I left once before I'll justthrow that out there After I had
done about 12 years, I was likeand I had done the design and
construction team, I had donethe China team, I was like there

(50:30):
is nothing else for me to dohere.
I'm not going to be a directorone day.
There's no upward mobility.
It's time for me to go.
And that's when I did my firstentrepreneurial, or actually my
second or third entrepreneurialeffort and then.
But then I decided to go back.
I went back and worked foranother seven, eight years at

(50:54):
Commerce.

So the entrepreneurial spirit has never
left you.
It has never left you andyou're wearing two, two major
hats right now rightrepresenting global la and, uh,
you actually founded batchglobal strategies, so tell me
about those two roles and howthey incorporate with one
another let me tell you so,batch global strategies.

I founded that nine years ago.
So when I first left the usgovernment, I started.
I started Batch GlobalStrategies.
That was when I, after I saidI'd been done the China team,
done the design and constructionteam, I was like, okay, I've
done the team leadership, I'vedone all these different things.
Let me see how I can take thatand grow my own consulting

(51:32):
business.
And I tell you, I left and Ihad high hopes and and when I
tell you, I like fell flat on myface and I was like, oh, this
is more than a notion.
This is not what I thought itwas going to be, it's this is.
I'm working like way harderthan I need to work.
And fortunately, when I had leftthe government, at that time it

(51:52):
was our national director.
He said you know what, terry?
You go, go, do that.
I'm going to hold your positionfor you.
He said I'm going to hold it.
You just take a leave ofabsence, I'll, I'll hold your
position.
And this is I don't.
I've never really shared thisstory, so you're getting the
exclusive.
And I was kind of mad.
I was like what?
You don't believe in me, youdon't believe I can do this, you

(52:14):
know, or that's a compliment.

Well, you know , you're, you're such a you're
such an important person in thisorganization that I'm going to
hold your position because Iwant you back.

It was, it was a compliment and and it was like
my what do you call it?
You know how you have your,your spare tire or your, your,
your backup plan, you know, andthey say, well, entrepreneurship
, get rid of the backup plan.
But I had a bit of a backupplan, like if this doesn't go
well, I can always go back.
And I knew that I didn't.
I don't believe in burningbridges, I don't believe in

(52:46):
sometimes you got to cut peopleoff, but for the most part I
don't cut people off.
I try to maintain goodrelationships because you never
know.
You just never know when you'regoing to need that person,
right.
So when I left, you know, Istarted my business, I launched
Batch Global.
I had contracts, I had clients.
I actually had a contract witha chamber at the time and it was

(53:10):
going.
But it was so uncomfortable forme and I felt like I was like
almost like I was drowning, likethis is too big, this is is too
much, I can't do this.
And so I knew I had that thatget out of jail free card or
that thing that I could go backto the commerce department.
And then, as more the more Iwas exploring you know what I

(53:31):
was doing.
I was like you know what?
I'm working too hard, I canjust go back to the government
and do this.
And so I remember picking upthe phone and calling my
national director at that timeand I said you know what?
I want to come back.
And I remember telling mycolleagues here locally I'm
going to come back.
They were ecstatic, but I feltlike a failure.
I felt like I had startedsomething.

(53:52):
And you know, I remembersomeone told me you know, the
ugliest house on the block isthe house that's never finished.
And I was like I startedsomething.
I didn't finish it.
You know, I started thisbusiness and I, and even my
husband was so supportive.
He was like you can do it, Ibelieve in you, just just keep
going.
But inside, like inside, Ididn't have like that internal,

(54:15):
like strength that I needed tobe like okay, well, if this
fails, I'm gonna be okay.
I was so like um, caught up intrying to make it a success.
That failure wasn't an option.
So before I failed at it, Isaid, okay, I'm just gonna go
back to the government.
And I and I tormented myselfliterally for years, years.

(54:38):
I felt like, oh, I'm nothing,don't ask me, I don't know.
You know, I really had to dothat inner work.
I remember I had a therapistand a coach during that time to
just really kind of help me,like that mental piece which is
so important.

Help me like that mental piece which is so
important, what always gets mewith these entrepreneurs, and
you know very famous wealthypeople.

They'll say you know you fail more than once
fail forward eight times yeahyou know, it just takes one
thing to really but let me tellyou why I felt the way I did.
I didn't feel like failure wasan option I don't have.
I'm not a trust fund baby, Idon't.
I couldn't go back and run tomommy and daddy and say, oh well
, option I don't have, I'm not atrust fund baby, I don't.
I couldn't go back and run tomommy and daddy and say, oh well

(55:21):
, you know, I don't have a job,can you help me pay my mortgage?
Or, you know, I felt thepressure of this has got to work
or we're going to be homeless,type of thing, even though
that's not true.
But that was what was going onin my mind, like, oh no, this
has to work.
And so I ended up going back tothe government and I did a lot

(55:41):
of internal work.
You know, like I said, I had acoach, I had a therapist, I had,
you know, I had people speakinginto me to help build me back
up.
And then during that time, thiswas like 2017, 2018, 2019 I was
like, coming back, I rememberdoing a big trade mission in
China and I was like, yeah, youknow, I still got it, I can

(56:02):
still do this China thing, youknow.
And then 2020 hit, the pandemichit and when the rest of the
world was crumbling right, allthat internal work that I had
been doing 2027, 2028, 2029, getI had the strength to endure

(56:22):
2020 when there was so muchuncertainty there was.
You know, I remember mysister's a nurse and she works
for the VA here in LA and shehad two kids.
We were raising our two kidsand my sister's two kids and we
didn't know what was going tohappen to her.
You know, it was so much wewere talking like the world
hasn't been the same since 2020.
But that was when I was hittingmy stride because I had been

(56:45):
done so much internal work andum, and then George Floyd
happened and, um, I was the oneat the forefront at the commerce
department saying, hey, we needto change things.
You know, really challengingour leadership at the time,
saying, you know, we reallydon't do much for the black
community with this organization, we really don't have many

(57:07):
black staff, whole racialreckoning.
That happened in the country.
I credit the fact that I wasable to get out front and be the
leader that I needed to bewithin the organization at that
time, because I had done allthat internal work and I knew
who I was.

(57:27):
You know all the things thatyou need to know if you're going
to be a leader.
Just, you got to do thatinternal work and so I don't
regret my path or what I wentthrough.
Or now I can like lift my headand be like, yep, I left and I
failed, and you know.
But back then I couldn't talkabout it.

(57:48):
I was like, oh no, this is toodevastating.
I was ashamed or I felt like Iwas a failure.
But now I know that you need todo that, you need to fail.
And then people say, oh, failfast, get out there, do
something, fall on your face, doit.
And I'm a proponent for it,because what it builds in you
internally for you to be able tostand, especially when things

(58:11):
get really hard, you know youcannot build that any other way.
You can't read it in a textbookand get it.
You can't read a self-help bookand be like, yeah, this is what
you do in adversity.
You don't know what you'regoing to do in adversity until
you're in it.

You just got to do it.

You got to do it and you got to go through it and
you got to build that internalmuscle so that you know then,
whatever life brings you, you'reable to keep standing.

Yeah, it's.
You have to put yourself inthose positions.
I know when I manage the familybusiness.
It's just an incredible amountof stress and people really
don't realize that until you'rein it, right.
And you can't read any book.
That's not going to prepare you.
You know, I had to write$100,000 paychecks and I'm like,

(59:01):
shoot, I need to pay thistomorrow.
What do I do?
And you know you're constantlytrying to put out fires and
having your own business right,because you can't rely on other
people.
So, having your own business isnot easy, but at the same time
it gives you purpose.
That's different from workingfor someone else or working for

(59:23):
the government, for example.

Right, because you know that check's going to be
there every two weeks.
You don't even think about it.

Definitely.
But when you have your own paththat you create, and you're
able to kind of make quickdecisions, um, you're not
relying on someone else or forapprovals, it just it's a little
different right yeah so I thinkthere's a need for it all, but
how do you incorporate whatyou're doing now to global.

Narrator 1 (59:49):
La because global la is.

You know, we didn't really touch into how you
got there, but if anyone wantsto know her story, um, even
further on that, there's a lot.
Just you know google you andglobal la and what it does, but
tell me about what you're doingnow.
Yeah, um, what do you do withyour two organizations?

Terri Batch (01:00:06):
so I'm doing two entities.
Now I'm doing global la.
Global la is a non-profit setup by the city to promote los
angeles, to bring foreign directinvestment here.
Um, I came in about a year anda half ago and I was hired to do
this job.
I now look at it as that wasthe thing the carrot that I

(01:00:26):
needed to step out on my ownagain.
I needed something to be thattransition.
So I've been doing that.
And then I recently broughtBatch Global Strategies back
because, for a number of reasons, out of necessity, because the
funding for Global LA is notstable or wasn't stable, and I

(01:00:47):
knew that going in.
So I knew that I needed tofundraise, I needed to get
companies or foundations orsomething behind this effort.
The city's not able to provideany funding, and so that has
kind of stalled a bit and so atthe at the same time I got it, I
got bills right.

Narrator 1 (01:01:05):
I I have to.
You have the expertise, thoughI have to maintain my lifestyle.
I know if I'm right.

So batch global strategies is about taking it is
.
It is the reboot, it is thegoing back to that thing.
I started nine years ago andsaying you know what I can do
this, I can do this.
So it's, I'm still maintainingGlobal LA and Global LA is still
a very important entity forthis city.
And you know, and as long as Ikeep, you know, getting invited

(01:01:33):
to do stuff for Global LA, I'mgonna keep showing up for Global
LA.
That's that was what I.
I told the city that I would do, but in the meantime I'm also
building my consulting practiceand so that is four-pronged.
It is helping other cities dowhat Global LA does.
So I've talked to other mayorsor other cities in California,

(01:01:55):
even across the country.
They're like you know what wereally need to promote our city
on a global stage and bringforeign direct investment to our
city.
So I'm like I know how to dothat.
It's also helping companies,foreign companies that want to
come to Los Angeles.
So, being that, being morehands on consulting with them,

(01:02:17):
it's also helping foreigngovernments because, if you look
at it, every government aroundthe world wants to attract
foreign direct investment intotheir country or into their city
other cities around the world.
So it's doing that as well.
And then I also.
The original intent of batchglobal strategies was to help
small and medium-sizedbusinesses to grow
internationally.
So really bringing that backand that expertise back of what

(01:02:40):
I did for 20 years of helping UScompanies do business around
the world.
So helping them navigate,helping them understand look,
these are the resources at yourfingertip.
You don't have to go at italone.
There's all these types ofthings that are available to you
and they don't know about itand a lot of companies they they
kind of you know fail, succeed,fail, succeed.

(01:03:00):
And not to say there's notfailure along the way, but
there's so many things that canhelp cushion the blow.

Christopher Luna (01:03:10):
So, using all of the expertise and background,
that's what Batch GlobalStrategies is yeah, and you have
so much experience?
I'm just thinking of my familybusiness, right?
I mean we used to import quitea bit from Turkey, germany,
china.
Just having someone like you Ican pick up the call and say,
hey, you know I'm having thisissue, I mean talk about COVID A
lot of our merchandise wasliterally and you have a supply
chain.

Was it stuck at the port?
Not?

even at the port, just in the ocean, that
whole supply chain was disrupted.
And then you're talking aboutsupporting businesses here that
can also export too, becausethere's a lot of, there's a
there's a big needinternationally to to be able to
export your product, and and wetapped into that as well.
So you, you're, you can helpevery layer of this
international background thatyou have in relations that you

(01:03:50):
have.
So there's definitely a need inyour expertise and there's no
one like Terry.

Oh, thank you, Thank you.

So I'd like to think I'm unique, I'm pretty
unique.
We're coming up in the hour andI really appreciate your time
and your support and being here.
You know, is there any otherkey takeaways you would like our
audience to kind of know aboutyou and maybe you know something
that can really help motivatepeople to get involved and

(01:04:17):
support?
You're a public servant.

Yeah, at heart the way.

I see you.
You really care about ourcommunity, and you gave your
life to public service too.
So is there anythingmotivational that we can kind of
leave the audience with beforewe go?

Yeah, well, I will just say this, because people
ask me all the time they're likeTerry, you're an international
trade, how do you feel about allthis thing?
That these things are happening?
And you know I, this is, thisis my philosophy and this is
what I tell others, especiallynow there's because we're living
in just uncertain times.
There's a lot of thingshappening, you know, whether

(01:04:55):
there's conflict, there'suncertainty in business, so much
right, but the bottom line andthe only way that we continue to
move forward as a people, as acountry, just as a world, is
people-to-people relationships.
So don't stop meeting peoplethat are different from you.
So don't stop meeting peoplethat are different from you.

(01:05:18):
Don't stop getting on a planeand going wherever it is in the
world to go and meet and talk tothe people that are there,
because all the rhetoric and allthe stuff that's on the
airwaves, don't just shut it out.
Shut that out and really get toknow people in places that are
interesting to you, becausethat's how you do business,

(01:05:41):
that's how you, you know,maintain relationships is.
You got to have that connectionwith people, and so that would
be my words of encouragement.
I had a colleague at Commercewho used to say you know, we're
creating world peace one tradedeal at a time.
And that's really what it is,because you do not bomb your

(01:06:03):
friends and you do not want tosee anything ill happen to the
people that you're doingbusiness with, because there's a
mutual benefit from me knowingyou and you knowing me.
I'm providing you withsomething and you're providing
me with something, and I wantyou to do well, because when you
do well, I do well, and so Iwould just say keep connecting
with people, and there's nobetter place in the world to

(01:06:27):
connect with people from aroundthe world than right here in Los
Angeles.
So I'll leave it with that.

I agree and thank you again for your support
.
I mean you definitely want toworry about what you can control
.

Oh yeah.

And those relationships are key to who?
We are so, again, thank you forbeing here today.
And thank you for joining us onLos Angeles Leaders.
I'll see you on the next one.

Narrator 1 (01:06:52):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of
the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast,hosted by Christopher Luna.
We hope you found ourconversation as inspiring as we
did.
Don't forget to subscribe andleave us a review on your
favorite podcast platform.
Your feedback helps us bringmore of the content you love,
and be sure to follow us onsocial media for updates behind

(01:07:15):
the scenes content and to jointhe conversation Until next time
.
Keep leading, keep innovatingand keep making a difference.

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Terri Batch - President and CEO of Global LA & Batch Global Strategies | Los Angeles Leaders

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Terri Batch - President and CEO of Global LA & Batch Global Strategies | Los Angeles Leaders