July 5, 2025 • 33 mins
How do you keep moving forward when the road isn’t clear? In this episode of Stories of Change and Creativity – Scotland Edition, I sit down with Bety Téllez Mora, Content and Campaigns Officer at Queen Margaret University - Edinburgh. Bety navigates challenges and career pivots—across countries and creative fields.
From journalism to digital storytelling, Bety shares how embracing change, taking risks, and staying curious has helped her shape a meaningful creative journey—one step at a time.
“I was self-conscious about having three degrees and not much experience, but now I see every part of that journey helped me get here.”
Bety opens up about adapting to life abroad, overcoming self-doubt, and learning to say yes—even when the path was unclear. This candid conversation explores what it means to build a career through risk, resilience, and a commitment to lifelong learning.
Key Takeaways
• Growing up as a diplomat's daughter gave Bety the skills to adapt
• Studying journalism provided a foundation, but an internship revealed her true path
• Balancing perfectionism with practical experience helped her prioritize opportunities outside the classroom
• Learning to embrace uncertainty and recognize that career paths don't need to be linear
• Overcoming imposter syndrome and building confidence is important
• Using international experience as a strength rather than seeing it as a limitation
• There's a constant challenge to maintain brand consistency while reflecting the university community
“Even if you don't get it right the first time, that is part of the process.” — Bety Téllez Mora
🎧 Tune in to hear how taking initiative, embracing uncertainty, and saying yes can lead to a career filled with purpose and possibility.
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Check out my TEDx talk. Why you should take action - then figure it out.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Judy Oskam (00:03):
Welcome to Stories of Change and Creativity -
Scotland Edition.
This is a short series where Iexplore how people navigate
change and embrace creativityeven when the path isn't clear.
I'm Judy Oskam and in thisedition I'm coming to you from
Queen Margaret University nearEdinburgh, Scotland.
(00:26):
I'm teaching a three-weekpublic relations course as part
of Texas State University'sEducation Abroad program and
along the way I'm sitting downwith students, faculty and local
professionals to capture theirstories.
From first-time travelers tocreative pros.
(00:46):
These conversations reveal howglobal experiences can shape who
we are and how we communicatewith the world.
I hope you enjoy ourconversation.
Bety Tellez Mora (01:00):
So I'm Bety Tellez and I'm the Content and
Campaigns Officer for theMarketing Team at Queen Margaret
University Edinburgh.
Judy Oskam (01:07):
Well, you've been so kind to talk to my students
this last week and they'velearned a lot about social media
.
And talk about how you got intothis field and how you started
from student to now professional.
Bety Tellez Mora (01:20):
Yeah.
So I think it kind of goes backto my background, which is
actually journalism.
So I studied journalism at theUniversity of Sterling for four
years.
I always kind of knew I wantedto go into communications and
media and with my interest inpolitics and social issues,
journalism just kind of seemedlike the right fit.
So that was kind of a nobrainer.
(01:40):
I just went straight intojournalism communications.
I ended up at Sterling becausehad like really good rankings
for that field and I wanted toto come to Scotland because I at
the time I lived in Italy, um,and I wanted to stay in Europe.
But Scotland is significantlycheaper than the rest of the UK.
Is this, yeah, okay forinternational students
especially?
Yeah, so, um, yeah, that's kindof how I made my decision and I
(02:05):
studied journalism, as I said,um, I had a really good time at
Sterling.
I had a lot of opportunities toum get work experience in
broadcast radio, a little bit ofmagazine, a little bit
newspapers, um.
But I think after, especiallytowards the end of that degree,
I realized that I don't thinkjournalism in the traditional
(02:26):
sense of it.
It was kind of really for me.
Judy Oskam (02:32):
And when was that?
Was that about?
Was that five, six years ago,or what?
Bety Tellez Mora (02:36):
So I started studying that degree in 2013.
Okay, and I finished it by 2017,16, something like that.
Okay, um, and I finished it by2017, 16, something like that,
um, and I think at the time Ithink I'm sure it's different
now, but that degree, at thattime that I was studying it, I
don't think the higher educationsector had fully caught up with
digital media, so I was stillvery much being taught um kind
(02:58):
of like old school journalism,like very much focused on the
newsroom, like, for example, Idon't actually remember social
media really being discussedmuch, right, until, maybe, like,
all of our practical kind ofmodules started more in the
third year, and even then it wasquite limited.
Some of us did an internship.
You could, like you could applyto do an internship as part of
(03:21):
your course, but not even theneverybody got to do it.
It was kind of based onpeople's grades grades.
So even the practical elementsof that course were quite
limited.
It was all very much theory andessay writing and stuff, which
I really love because I'm amassive nerd and.
I love writing essays.
I'm very good at that kind oflone wolf kind of work, yeah,
yeah, but it wasn't challengingme enough.
(03:43):
As I said, it might bedifferent now, but at the time I
just felt like all of theexperience that I got in the
media was really from me.
Kind of seeking out internshipsin the summer, which I did a
lot of at that time, um, buthaving worked in a newsroom, it
was only like a one-weekinternship in a local paper here
in Edinburgh um, I justrealized it was too hectic of an
(04:03):
environment for me.
It was a little too stressful.
It was very unpredictable.
You weren't really sure.
Like you know, things couldchange very quickly.
You could have spent like allthis time working on a piece
that was going to get scrapped,it's true, and it didn't help
that everybody in the newsroomwas kind of talking about
redundancies and being scared ofbeing laid off.
So it was just all kind of likea um, an interesting experience
.
It was really helpful and I'mreally happy that I did it, but,
(04:26):
um, I remember just thinking Idon't know if this is for me
necessarily, um, and maybe not along-term career, so you were
thinking ahead.
Judy Oskam (04:36):
As far as where is this gonna go right?
Bety Tellez Mora (04:38):
yeah, because everybody was pretty much, uh,
thinking of like, yeah, justgoing into newspapers and I was
like I think maybe magazineswould be more for me.
I have this anecdote from thatinternship where, um, I think it
was the very last day of it, soI was already a bit kind of
like I don't think this is forme.
And there was this story ofsomeone that had jumped of a
building.
They had committed suicide, ohmy gosh.
(04:59):
And the reaction in thenewsroom was like, oh, couldn't
he have waited two hours becauseit was gonna throw up
everybody's schedules.
Yes, and I was like it was avery sobering experience because
I understand like when you'redealing with like tragic stories
all the time and very difficultsubjects, you have to develop
like a thick skin and a, youknow, a sense of humor about it.
Right, but it was just like notthat, that was my only deciding
(05:22):
, but it was one of many thingsthat I was just like I don't
think this is for me, so Iremember.
One thing that I do remember isthat I never questioned that I
was going to go ahead and do amaster's Like.
That was always part of theplan.
You always planned to do thatyeah.
Because I loved academia.
As I said, I loved writingessays.
Judy Oskam (05:38):
And learning.
You just love learning, rightyeah.
Bety Tellez Mora (05:40):
I'm that classic person who loves
highlighting color-coordinatednotes and stuff, teachers love
you I was a teacher's pet forsure.
So I was like I'm going to do amaster's.
That wasn't a question.
It was a question what would Ido?
And having had that experiencein the newsroom, I was kind of
like I think I want to domagazine journalism, maybe
something that's a bit moreslow-paced.
You get to work on your piecesfor a bit longer.
(06:05):
In.
You get to work on your piecesa bit longer In depth, in depth,
yeah.
And I remember I had a lecturerat the time, eddie, who told me
because I was like I kind ofwant to do magazine journalism
as my master's, and he was likeyou don't need that, you already
have the skills that you wouldlearn in a magazine journalism
degree.
So he said go for somethingthat would kind of complement
your journalism degree.
So I said, ok, I think I'mgoing to go for politics.
(06:25):
So that's when I decided to dothat master's.
It was called Human Rights,international Politics at
Glasgow University.
So I went straight into thatafter my journalism degree,
which was a really goodexperience.
It was very challenging at firstbecause not only was it a bit
of a slightly more prestigiousuniversity, so the expectations
(06:48):
were higher on the students.
But I think everybody that wentinto that master's came from a
politics degree, a law degree,an international relations
degree.
So I felt kind of behind.
Sometimes I felt like I had totry a bit harder to keep up with
everybody else.
It was very philosophical attimes, very theoretical, as I
said, um, and I feel like a lotof times I would feel quite lost
(07:09):
in the conversations that inclass, being like I have no idea
what these topics mean, whatthese terms, um.
So I had to try a lot harderthan everybody else.
I feel like and I remember likepeople were coming from like
internships at the UN and aninternship in Geneva and things
like that, and I was like I workin a pub you know what I mean
and I had some experience in themedia, but it was very
(07:30):
different from what we weredoing on this degree.
So that was a really goodexperience, but at the end of
that degree I think because Iwas so focused on keeping up
with everybody else in terms ofthe grades- and the assessments
and the exams focused on keepingup with everybody else in terms
of the grades and theassessments and the exams.
I did not do any of the otherpractical stuff that I was doing
, you know, just on my ownduring my journalism degree.
(07:51):
So, for example, GlasgowUniversity has a wonderful
student newspaper.
I was very active in my studentnewspaper in Sterling but I
never even went to a singlemeeting at this one because I
was just so focused on you, wereso busy the academics.
I just felt like that I didthat was a disadvantage to
myself because I left with this,this shiny degree, which I was
very proud of because it was achallenge, and said I did feel
(08:13):
like I had to try harder thanothers, perhaps to like get on
the same level, but I leftwithout much in the way of work
experience or vocational skills.
Judy Oskam (08:24):
Right, right.
And so what did you do then?
Then you came back here.
Bety Tellez Mora (08:28):
So at that time so that would have been end
of 2018, I think.
So I knew that there was.
I had some travel planned, sometrips planned in 2019.
Yeah, I had never taken a gapyear between high school, uni,
my master's, so I kind of wanteda bit of a break and I had my
cousin's wedding was coming upand that was going to be a huge
(08:48):
road trip around Mexico, whichis where I'm from.
Judy Oskam (08:51):
I don't know if I mentioned that, oh no.
Bety Tellez Mora (08:53):
I'm from Mexico City, so I knew that I
kind of didn't want to.
I wasn't throwing myself intolike job hunting right away,
sure, because I knew I had allthat coming up.
But I then did hit this pointof kind of having the
existential crisis of being inmy mid-20s, having these two
degrees.
But my work experience by thenwas not super recent anymore.
But you needed a break, I thinktoo right, I think so yeah.
(09:18):
And also it's harder being aninternational student.
It comes with its challenges,like I wasn't legally allowed to
work after my visa as a studentso I had to kind of ask myself
do I want to try to come back tothe camp, look for jobs that
would sponsor me?
Do I have to go back to Mexico?
Like all of that was happening.
But while I was exploring allthese questions, covid happened.
(09:41):
So that was actually kind of ablessing, in disguise, I have to
say, because I felt like Imyself was frozen, but then the
whole world kind of the wholeworld was frozen with me.
Yes, so it gave me a lot of timeto slow down and think of what
my next steps were.
And did you go back to MexicoCity?
My mom was living at the timein Athens, so I that's where I
(10:01):
spent most of the quarantine.
Um, but yeah, so during thattime, my one of my best friends,
warren.
He messaged me.
He was my friend from uni andhe said did you know that the UK
government has changed thepostgraduate visa situation?
Because when I was a student,you could only stay for three
months after your degree ended,which is really not that much
time, no, to look for a job andthen get your life together,
(10:22):
especially when you're thatyoung and you're new to job
hunting and interviewing and allthat stuff.
So the UK government at thattime introduced a two-year
postgraduate visa, which isstill the case today.
Um, and I thought this would begood for me.
Yeah, um, and I discussed itwith my family.
Obviously I know I'm in a veryprivileged position that I was
able to do that and go back.
(10:42):
I had my whole family was inScotland, like my friends, my,
my fiancee at the time, oh wow.
So Scotland was really where Iwanted to be so um.
So I decided to come back, but I, when I was looking for
master's, my prioritiescompletely changed.
I wasn't so concerned aboutrankings or you know.
I really just wanted to find acourse that was very vocational
(11:03):
in nature, very practical, handson.
And I came across the digitalcompanion and content creation
masters here in Margaret and itwas like very unique, like I
felt like there wasn't reallyanything like it in what we call
the central belt of Scotland.
So I applied to that.
I actually waited a yearbecause I didn't want to go into
it.
Well, covid was still very mucha thing.
(11:24):
Oh, you wanted to go on campus.
Yeah, so I waited, so I did goback to Mexico at that time.
Once I kind of made a decision,I went home, I applied to all
of the union from there and thenI came back to Scotland in
September 2021.
Judy Oskam (11:39):
Okay, yeah, Okay, so you took that degree then.
Bety Tellez Mora (11:43):
then you decided to really dive into that
whole content creation anddigital right yeah, because I
wanted to still, as I said, workin comms and media, but I felt
like and tell stories, right,yeah, I felt like my kind of I
realized that again the as muchas I do think eventually, maybe
that would be a route that Iwould explore.
I think marketing and PR is whatstarted to call my name a
(12:04):
little bit.
Um, and, as I said, mypriorities kind of completely
changed.
I was like I wasn't going toworry so much about getting
straight A's.
I wanted to take time out of myday to do other things that
would benefit me.
So, for example, one of thethings that I know I talked to
your students about was thestudent content creator role.
So that's a position that themarketing offers to our students
(12:24):
and that was advertised when Ihad just started and I was like
I need that job.
I was like I'm going to doeverything I can to get that job
because it's part-time, it'svery flexible, it was more than
part-time, it's like a freelanceopportunity.
So you just kind of pitch ideasand you get paid for them on a
like freelance type basis, andit was great experience.
It was obviously highlyrelevant to what I was doing and
(12:45):
what I wanted to do.
And I remember one time Iremember the day there was an
assessment that was due and Iwas like I could probably work
on that a little bit more or Icould spend more time on this
job application.
And I was like I'm going to dothe job application, I care
about that so much more and Idid well on my degree as well.
Judy Oskam (13:02):
So it's not to say that I completely neglected that
, but you didn't stress over thedegree.
You were focusing on the future, really Exactly.
Bety Tellez Mora (13:09):
And like all the other opportunities that I
could benefit from, because QMUoffers a lot of those kind of
things.
So, for example, another thingthat I did and that's the other
thing is this degree is builtwith that kind of in mind.
So one of our modules isindustry-based learning.
So you have to do an internship, you have to do work experience
, where that wasn't the casewith my other degrees.
(13:29):
So you're kind of forced to dothat which is good degrees, and
so you're kind of forced to dothat, which is good um.
So I I did a bit of working.
I work with a charity uh, basedhere at qmusical stack of
skills, so I did a bit of umstrategy for them.
I edited some videos for someof their campaigns and I did
some work with a new businessthat was working on um, like
couch tours in edinburgh, and Ialso did, obviously, the social
(13:53):
media content creator role,which that actually counted.
Those hours counted towards mydegree.
So it was like killing twobirds with one stone.
I was getting paid, but it wasalso part of my course, um.
So yeah, when I finished, thedegree kind of the timing was
perfect because my predecessorfor the role that I have just
now had just announced that shewas leaving.
So the job went up and Idecided to apply for it and I
(14:15):
got it.
Judy Oskam (14:15):
Oh, that's great.
Oh, that's great yeah.
Bety Tellez Mora (14:17):
It was a very it was really good timing.
Judy Oskam (14:20):
Well, and your timing?
You have a history of timingright.
You go here, you go there.
You make a change here and Ilove the fact that you're pretty
adaptable.
Is that part of how you operateand how you live, or have you
had to learn that?
Bety Tellez Mora (14:35):
I think it's probably because I grew up
moving around the world.
So my mom was she's now retiredbut she's a diplomat she was a
diplomat, so we kind of livedall over and I had to adapt to
new countries, new schools, andso I think when I was a kid I
hated it, because I hatedleaving my friends and starting
over, Sure, but I think that'skind of where that comes from
(14:57):
and, yeah, just kind of as Isaid, I think being an immigrant
, I should say because it's notjust in the context of an
international student, but beingan immigrant it comes with
those challenges and having toadapt and having to, yeah, just
go for it.
Judy Oskam (15:14):
Well, and now, when you work with students, do you
share that your journey to helpthem, because I think that's
important, to help themunderstand that they too can
make changes and zig and zag,and when they have to, do you
talk about that much?
Bety Tellez Mora (15:29):
Yeah, I think one of the main things that I've
kind of advised some of thestudents that I work with on is
that idea of like not gettingtoo caught up in trying to be
perfect and getting the perfectgrades and about making the most
of the opportunities that areoutside the classroom, if you
will, and like I think I gavethis example to your students
but like not feeling like you'renot good enough or just because
(15:51):
you don't meet the criteria,that maybe a job wants or you
know that you shouldn't try andgo for it, and because that's
how.
That's kind of what I've had todo a lot of the times is just
hope, you know, try my best andhope that, even if it's in my
head not something I'm qualifiedfor, that maybe I won't get
right, you still try right,right.
Judy Oskam (16:10):
Why do you think we're like them?
Why do you think we think thatwe need to know it all before we
jump in and start it?
Bety Tellez Mora (16:16):
I think honestly it's a women thing, do
you?
And it could be.
I feel like when I compare,like what I fear and what I,
when I like, doubt myself andthink I'm not good enough for
something, and then I compare itto male colleagues or male
students you know, back when Iwas at uni, like confidence
level is so different.
(16:37):
It might not be the case forevery single person, of course,
but I just do feel like we doubtourselves more and we feel like
, oh, I'm not qualified for thisor how, how am I going to do
this?
I don't think I can do this.
And that's another thing that Ilike to tell students is that
if you've been hired for a jobor you've been given a gig, it's
because the person believesthat you can do it, so you can
do it yeah, I think that, Ithink that's great and I think
(16:59):
too.
Judy Oskam (17:00):
How do you?
How do you then, uh, help, helpstudents really understand that
, um, that they're going to makemistakes, and we do make
mistakes and you know how do you?
Bety Tellez Mora (17:13):
moving forward it can be hard because, as I
said, my work with the studentsis a lot about them either
pitching ideas for me, givingthem tasks, and then they
execute the piece of content um,and it can be hard to tell them
like this is not good enough.
But because obviously I have aresponsibility to the university
to make sure that everythingthat we host is brand compliant
(17:33):
and it's appropriate and ofquality um, but I think, um,
just letting them know that initself is part of the process.
Like you are getting paid tolearn, so even if you don't get
it right the first time, that ispart of a part of the process.
And I think I've given um Idon't know if it's necessarily
to students, but definitely tomy classmates um, back when I
was a student, like that exampleof like me going on on that
(17:55):
internship for the localnewspaper in Edinburgh was a
very big deal and I was veryproud to get that, especially
because I said not everybody gotto do an internship um, but
that was in itself a learningexperience.
That that's not kind of, that'snot what I wanted to do really,
yes, um and at the time I I justremember thinking and it was
quite useful because we had wehad to do a reflective kind of
(18:16):
essay after the internship and Iremember thinking what am I
going to say?
But I was like that in itselfis a learning experience.
It taught me that I don't thinkthe skills I'm going to take
away with me and they're goingto serve me in other areas, but
I was like I just don't thinkdaily news is for me and that is
not necessarily a bad thing.
Judy Oskam (18:35):
Exactly.
Bety Tellez Mora (18:36):
Exactly.
Judy Oskam (18:37):
Well, and what?
How do you do?
What self-talk do you do toyourself?
I mean, how do you talk toyourself about seeing the
positive and moving forward?
Do you do self-coaching?
And and what are your tips andtricks?
Bety Tellez Mora (18:56):
I guess I would say I definitely have to
because, yeah, as I said, mycareer has not been linear.
So and I've taken that to heartLike I've definitely felt
self-conscious about the factthat, for example, I have three
degrees, but there was a pointwhere I had three degrees and
very little work experience andI found that embarrassing for
(19:17):
some reason, like I just hatedtelling people that.
I had three degrees, but threedegrees from prestigious
universities is a greataccomplishment and I, as I said,
I was proud, especially withthat Glasgow one because it was
so different from what I wasused to.
So it was like I definitelyworked really hard to get there.
But I just remember thinkinglike there's people that have
one degree and then they haveall these.
You know this wonderful careerthat you know.
(19:39):
But I had to be.
I have to remember to be kindto myself because my, as I said,
there is context to everything.
So obviously the fact that Igraduated from these courses but
then I wasn't really allowed tostay in the country for very
long meant that that obviouslyhindered me and that meant that
I would have to go back home andkind of go back to the drawing
(19:59):
board and figure out what mynext steps.
And all of that obviously tooktime.
And then COVID happened, when Iwas, I think, 25 or 26.
So that obviously put a pauseon my career and everything.
So, yeah, I think those werethings that I was really
self-conscious about and kind offelt really like not good
enough and, despite the factthat I said, most people would
(20:21):
have looked at me and be likeyou have three degrees.
Judy Oskam (20:22):
Like that's so impressive.
Bety Tellez Mora (20:24):
But I was like I just is.
I feel like it's almost like acop out, like that's how I felt
like I did these degrees becauseit was like the easier route,
which wasn't necessarily thecase.
But I said I was kind of it'snot easy yeah, it's not.
It's not um, but yeah, I think,when I look at it in hindsight,
I'm like, well, first of all,you, you got there eventually,
(20:46):
even though it was hard and itwasn't as easy as it could have
been for people that were bornin this country and they have
the right to live here.
Um, and you still got thereeventually.
Um, and, yeah, it wasn't linearand there were a lot of parts
where I was like I don't knowwhat's gonna happen next and I
still don't know because, like,my life is very unpredictable.
But, um, I think theself-coaching that I do to go
(21:07):
back to your question is, I kindof always remind myself that,
even at the worst moments andthe moments where I was most
anxious, I still kind of gotthere eventually, yeah, and you
still went forward.
You're still moving forward.
Yeah, okay, yeah.
Judy Oskam (21:23):
Good, well, look ahead five years.
What are you thinking and howdo you plan?
Do you plan every year or howmuch do you plan personally and
professionally?
Bety Tellez Mora (21:36):
I think I kind of stopped doing the well, to
be honest, I don't think I'veever been able to do like the
five-year plan, because eversince I was well, actually my
whole life with living abroad mymom and I never really knew
where we were going to be inlike a couple years because her
work was kind of unpredictablein that way.
So I knew that I was going tofinish high school in Rome, like
(21:57):
I think that was kind of agiven.
But then after that, obviouslyI went to university and I knew
that I had like at least fouryears where I was going to be in
that town at that uni.
So that was kind of easy toplan, I suppose.
But then I did my master's andI was like, okay, well, that's
another year, so I can lookforward to that year and plan
for that year, but not muchbeyond that.
(22:17):
And then after that that threwme into like a crisis because I
was like I don't know what'snext and also, for context, as I
said, my fiance at the time wasin Scotland, my mom was living
in Athens, so going back toMexico didn't feel like.
I didn't feel like I had aplace there, my brother's there
and I love my brother, but mylife was all over the place, all
around the world.
Judy Oskam (22:37):
So you're really an international person woman.
Yeah, I mean really so.
If you were to embrace that aspart of your story, and it
unfolds as as opportunitiesarise.
But the fact that you are adaptat living wherever you are is
amazing.
It's just really an amazing.
(22:58):
I could see a book in that.
I mean how, how can you adaptwherever you are and keep moving
forward?
And that forward doesn't needto be a linear path, so life is
not linear.
Bety Tellez Mora (23:11):
Yeah, and I think that's something that's
quite important.
That I've learned, especiallyfrom that period between my
master's in the politics masterand then to where I am now, is
that I didn't finish studyingand get a job.
You know, I finished studying,then I had to have a moment to
figure out what was next.
Then I had to go back touniversity and make the most of
(23:32):
that and really embrace all thevocational opportunities,
knowing that like that is what Ineeded the most, rather than
straight A's, and then I endedup with this job, but it wasn't
like from A to B, and that kindof gives me a little bit of
comfort, because I know that inthe future, if I have to go back
to the drawing board, I willprobably be fine.
Judy Oskam (23:54):
Yes, yes, if you get knocked down, you'll get
back up and your life might goso many different directions.
But how much does travel helpyou, uh, be adaptable and
understand different cultures?
Yeah, um, I think, as I said,for me, for example, I used to
(24:14):
kind of not resent my mompersonally but our lifestyle
because it was like I wanted tonot change, you know where I was
and, yeah, your friends, you'vegot friends there and you're a
kid and you don't want to leavethem.
Bety Tellez Mora (24:27):
Yeah, and I remember my cousin at the time.
She was trying to comfort mebut you're going to learn a new
language and I was like I don'tcare about learning.
Judy Oskam (24:34):
Italian.
Bety Tellez Mora (24:35):
Whereas now it's like I love that language.
I love that when I go back toItaly I can speak it.
Judy Oskam (24:39):
You speak Spanish, italian and English.
Oh my gosh.
Bety Tellez Mora (24:44):
And so, yeah, it's a beautiful thing because
Italy is one of my favoritecountries, it's one of my mom's
favorite countries, we have alot of emotional attachment to
it because we lived there for solong, and so being able to go
back and speak the language,it's just.
I think you experience cultureof different when you know the
lingo and the slang.
Sure, so it's been actually areally a really nice thing.
Judy Oskam (25:08):
But yeah, well, and I think you've been so gracious
to work with our students and Iknow you're for the listeners.
Our students have pitched Bettysome social media ideas and
you've been gracious to connectwith them and give them some
guidance and all of that.
And they're traveling and forsome of them the first time the
(25:29):
first time they've traveledinternationally.
So what advice would you givepeople who travel here to
Scotland?
They found that the people hereare just fantastic.
Bety Tellez Mora (25:38):
Yeah Well, I think, as Lynn mentioned in that
talk, I think they're alreadydoing the right thing by having
exposed themselves to thisopportunity and I think that's
really brave and really um, itis brave yeah, it is brave yeah
yeah, um, I actually rememberlike I wanted to do a study
abroad semester, but in the endI think the choice was between
(25:59):
the internship semester and thestudy abroad.
And I remember I think I kind ofwanted to go for the internship
but the idea of studying abroadkind of terrified me, even
though in theory I am studyingabroad.
Judy Oskam (26:08):
You are living abroad and studying at the same
time.
Bety Tellez Mora (26:10):
Yeah, but it was.
It was kind of like I do have alot of respect for people that
kind of put themselves in thatposition where they're going to
be gone for, you know, bycomplete by themselves, leaving
everything you know behind for ashort period of time.
But yeah, I think the theadvice I I would give them is
just to, as I said, takeadvantage of every opportunity.
So I think that you know thefact that they're pitching ideas
(26:31):
to me and like getting tounderstand how you know
different institutions,different organizations, might
have different approaches to youknow, for instance, one of your
students suggested an idea thatI was like this is really good,
but actually from ourperspective, we would prefer
this as opposed to what you'resuggesting.
Judy Oskam (26:46):
I saw that.
Bety Tellez Mora (26:47):
Yeah, that was a good teachable moment there
yeah it's good for them to kindof expose themselves to those
scenarios and those situations.
But I have to say I was veryinspired by your students,
because I'm kind of embarrassedto admit that I've not been
Arthur's seat yet.
Judy Oskam (27:01):
Me neither.
I don't know if I can make it,
Bety Tellez Mora (27:06):
So I mean, I've been living in .
for less than that, but still,yeah, and I was like the fact
that they'd only been here.
Judy Oskam (27:12):
What a couple of days a week or something, some
with, I think, the very firstday.
I was like I was reallyinspired by that, so yes, you
know, yes, I I am very impressedwith this group they have.
They have worked together welland they've gone out and met
people in the community andbusinesses and talked to
businesses.
They've met you guys and it'sbeen a really fun experience.
(27:34):
And two of them told me which Ididn't know that they really
thought right before the tripthey weren't going to go.
Oh, really they thought theymight just bail out and not go.
They were just scared.
Bety Tellez Mora (27:44):
I know that feeling so well of agreeing to
do something.
But you're like, okay, whatwould be my exit plan if I need
to Right and sometimes I don'tthink I've ever actually done
that.
But the very thought, the ideaof like, what's my backup plan
if I last minute decide I don'twant to do it.
But I think again, that'sreally important that they
(28:06):
realize I was in a positionwhere I almost didn't go, but I
did anyway, and that's that'ssomething that they should be
very proud of.
Judy Oskam (28:10):
I think so too.
And to get on a plane.
And one student said thehardest part of this trip so far
is just getting here yeahbecause they had to travel nine
hours on the plane by themselvesyeah, and then arrive in a new
land.
Bety Tellez Mora (28:24):
Now, luckily, English is the common language
here but the accent's a littlebit hard sometimes, so the
accent's a little hard tounderstand sometimes, but I
think it's been a fun experience.
Judy Oskam (28:37):
But your team has been great and we've been
following your social media andhow do you hope to shape that
social media presence movingforward?
How do you, how do you hope toshape that, that social media
presence moving forward?
What are you thinking?
Bety Tellez Mora (28:50):
There's loads of things that I would love to
do, but the one of, I think, thebiggest challenges and
something that I would reallylike to work towards is being
able to include all thedifferent aspects of the
university in a way that'scohesive, because there's so
many good things that are beingdone at the uni in terms of
research, different courses,different students doing a lot
of interesting things andextracurricular things that,
(29:12):
like, no one's asking them to do, but they do it because they
find it interesting andrewarding and stuff, and so
there's a lot of good stories totell.
But it's finding that balanceof.
We want to include what you'redoing, we want to share your
story, but also it has to bebrand compliant, it has to fit
in with the look and feel of thesocial media and our website
and our brand and stuff, andthat can be quite hard and time
(29:34):
consuming to do.
So that is something that Iwould say I definitely want to
focus more, especially over thenext year, and so is making sure
people feel like they can comeup to us as a team and say this
is happening and we're veryproud of this and we want to
share it with the university andother people to support them
and um, but again, in a way thatkind of strikes that balance of
(29:55):
you know, we have to be brandcompliant and and and follow our
guidelines and have our brandcolors and all that kind of
stuff.
And, yeah, just making surethat people feel like they're
included and we want to featurethem.
Judy Oskam (30:11):
Well, and that's the big feel of this university,
is you belong, you're includedwe're all together yeah.
I think that's sort of part ofthe culture here.
Bety Tellez Mora (30:19):
Yeah, and I have that experience as a
student and also a staff.
Oh, that's good to hear,because I love that about coming
here.
This is the smallest uni out ofthe three that I went to, so it
was really a very cozy,comfortable feeling coming in
and I feel like once you go toknow everyone, it was just, it
(30:39):
felt like I know it soundsreally cheesy, but it felt like
very at home.
Yeah, like I just just.
I was always very comfortablehere.
Um, I never had any feelings oflike anxiety or like oh, I
don't want to make a fool ofmyself because the classes were
so small, we all got to knoweach other.
Yeah, we're all we had reallygood relationships with our
lecturers, um, so that wasreally really lovely.
And I remember towards thebeginning of that class of that
(31:02):
course, thinking like, oh, Ithink it was probably gonna be,
it would be really nice to workhere, not thinking at all that
it would actually happen for me.
Um, but yeah, I, I just lovedthat as a student.
I think most people had areally positive student, a
positive experience, um, andthen when I got the job, I was
so relieved to find out that itwas very similar like nice again
(31:23):
, just because it's a small uni,and obviously I was probably an
advantage because I knew peoplefrom when I was a student, so
my former lecturers were now mycolleagues, you know things like
that.
But it's still that very smallcampus family kind of vibe and
it's really lovely.
When you come into the office,you like constantly bump into
people that you know, have achat and yeah, I feel like we
(31:45):
all kind of know each other.
Judy Oskam (31:46):
I love that.
I love that Well, and youmanifested your future in a way
and there's a lot to be said forputting things out there in the
universe and it comes back toyou and I just think I just
can't wait to see what you'regoing to do next with your
combination of your travel andall of that makes for a real
(32:09):
interesting life.
Bety Tellez Mora (32:09):
I think that's very kind.
Yeah, I think, as I said, it'sjust all about like trying
things even when you are notsure or when you think that you
might not be the right fit, orjust.
I'm really trying to embracethat because it's easier to say.
Judy Oskam (32:23):
But it's easy to say no, yeah, yeah, but I'm
still trying to embrace thatmyself.
Bety Tellez Mora (32:26):
In's easier to say, but it's easy to say no,
yeah, yeah, but I'm still tryingto embrace that myself in like
my everyday life.
I'm just exposing myself to asmany opportunities as possible.
Couldn't you know being here onyour podcast yes, you could
have said no you could have saidno, yeah, but I, I, just, I'm,
I'm really trying to embrace andexperiencing as many things as
possible?
Judy Oskam (32:43):
I love Well, thank you for saying yes.
Bety Tellez Mora (32:45):
Yeah, thank you for having me on Of course,
Thank you.
Judy Oskam (32:48):
Thanks so much for joining us on Stories of Change
and Creativity Scotland edition.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure and follow the podcast and
give us a like and a review.
It really helps more listenersdiscover these inspiring stories
.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Stories of Change and Creativity -
Scotland Edition.
This is a short series where Iexplore how people navigate
change and embrace creativityeven when the path isn't clear.
I'm Judy Oskam and in thisedition I'm coming to you from
Queen Margaret University nearEdinburgh, Scotland.
(00:26):
I'm teaching a three-weekpublic relations course as part
of Texas State University'sEducation Abroad program and
along the way I'm sitting downwith students, faculty and local
professionals to capture theirstories.
From first-time travelers tocreative pros.
(00:46):
These conversations reveal howglobal experiences can shape who
we are and how we communicatewith the world.
I hope you enjoy ourconversation.
Bety Tellez Mora (01:00):
So I'm Bety Tellez and I'm the Content and
Campaigns Officer for theMarketing Team at Queen Margaret
University Edinburgh.
Judy Oskam (01:07):
Well, you've been so kind to talk to my students
this last week and they'velearned a lot about social media
.
And talk about how you got intothis field and how you started
from student to now professional.
Bety Tellez Mora (01:20):
Yeah.
So I think it kind of goes backto my background, which is
actually journalism.
So I studied journalism at theUniversity of Sterling for four
years.
I always kind of knew I wantedto go into communications and
media and with my interest inpolitics and social issues,
journalism just kind of seemedlike the right fit.
So that was kind of a nobrainer.
(01:40):
I just went straight intojournalism communications.
I ended up at Sterling becausehad like really good rankings
for that field and I wanted toto come to Scotland because I at
the time I lived in Italy, um,and I wanted to stay in Europe.
But Scotland is significantlycheaper than the rest of the UK.
Is this, yeah, okay forinternational students
especially?
Yeah, so, um, yeah, that's kindof how I made my decision and I
(02:05):
studied journalism, as I said,um, I had a really good time at
Sterling.
I had a lot of opportunities toum get work experience in
broadcast radio, a little bit ofmagazine, a little bit
newspapers, um.
But I think after, especiallytowards the end of that degree,
I realized that I don't thinkjournalism in the traditional
(02:26):
sense of it.
It was kind of really for me.
Judy Oskam (02:32):
And when was that?
Was that about?
Was that five, six years ago,or what?
Bety Tellez Mora (02:36):
So I started studying that degree in 2013.
Okay, and I finished it by 2017,16, something like that.
Okay, um, and I finished it by2017, 16, something like that,
um, and I think at the time Ithink I'm sure it's different
now, but that degree, at thattime that I was studying it, I
don't think the higher educationsector had fully caught up with
digital media, so I was stillvery much being taught um kind
(02:58):
of like old school journalism,like very much focused on the
newsroom, like, for example, Idon't actually remember social
media really being discussedmuch, right, until, maybe, like,
all of our practical kind ofmodules started more in the
third year, and even then it wasquite limited.
Some of us did an internship.
You could, like you could applyto do an internship as part of
(03:21):
your course, but not even theneverybody got to do it.
It was kind of based onpeople's grades grades.
So even the practical elementsof that course were quite
limited.
It was all very much theory andessay writing and stuff, which
I really love because I'm amassive nerd and.
I love writing essays.
I'm very good at that kind oflone wolf kind of work, yeah,
yeah, but it wasn't challengingme enough.
(03:43):
As I said, it might bedifferent now, but at the time I
just felt like all of theexperience that I got in the
media was really from me.
Kind of seeking out internshipsin the summer, which I did a
lot of at that time, um, buthaving worked in a newsroom, it
was only like a one-weekinternship in a local paper here
in Edinburgh um, I justrealized it was too hectic of an
(04:03):
environment for me.
It was a little too stressful.
It was very unpredictable.
You weren't really sure.
Like you know, things couldchange very quickly.
You could have spent like allthis time working on a piece
that was going to get scrapped,it's true, and it didn't help
that everybody in the newsroomwas kind of talking about
redundancies and being scared ofbeing laid off.
So it was just all kind of likea um, an interesting experience
.
It was really helpful and I'mreally happy that I did it, but,
(04:26):
um, I remember just thinking Idon't know if this is for me
necessarily, um, and maybe not along-term career, so you were
thinking ahead.
Judy Oskam (04:36):
As far as where is this gonna go right?
Bety Tellez Mora (04:38):
yeah, because everybody was pretty much, uh,
thinking of like, yeah, justgoing into newspapers and I was
like I think maybe magazineswould be more for me.
I have this anecdote from thatinternship where, um, I think it
was the very last day of it, soI was already a bit kind of
like I don't think this is forme.
And there was this story ofsomeone that had jumped of a
building.
They had committed suicide, ohmy gosh.
(04:59):
And the reaction in thenewsroom was like, oh, couldn't
he have waited two hours becauseit was gonna throw up
everybody's schedules.
Yes, and I was like it was avery sobering experience because
I understand like when you'redealing with like tragic stories
all the time and very difficultsubjects, you have to develop
like a thick skin and a, youknow, a sense of humor about it.
Right, but it was just like notthat, that was my only deciding
(05:22):
, but it was one of many thingsthat I was just like I don't
think this is for me, so Iremember.
One thing that I do remember isthat I never questioned that I
was going to go ahead and do amaster's Like.
That was always part of theplan.
You always planned to do thatyeah.
Because I loved academia.
As I said, I loved writingessays.
Judy Oskam (05:38):
And learning.
You just love learning, rightyeah.
Bety Tellez Mora (05:40):
I'm that classic person who loves
highlighting color-coordinatednotes and stuff, teachers love
you I was a teacher's pet forsure.
So I was like I'm going to do amaster's.
That wasn't a question.
It was a question what would Ido?
And having had that experiencein the newsroom, I was kind of
like I think I want to domagazine journalism, maybe
something that's a bit moreslow-paced.
You get to work on your piecesfor a bit longer.
(06:05):
In.
You get to work on your piecesa bit longer In depth, in depth,
yeah.
And I remember I had a lecturerat the time, eddie, who told me
because I was like I kind ofwant to do magazine journalism
as my master's, and he was likeyou don't need that, you already
have the skills that you wouldlearn in a magazine journalism
degree.
So he said go for somethingthat would kind of complement
your journalism degree.
So I said, ok, I think I'mgoing to go for politics.
(06:25):
So that's when I decided to dothat master's.
It was called Human Rights,international Politics at
Glasgow University.
So I went straight into thatafter my journalism degree,
which was a really goodexperience.
It was very challenging at firstbecause not only was it a bit
of a slightly more prestigiousuniversity, so the expectations
(06:48):
were higher on the students.
But I think everybody that wentinto that master's came from a
politics degree, a law degree,an international relations
degree.
So I felt kind of behind.
Sometimes I felt like I had totry a bit harder to keep up with
everybody else.
It was very philosophical attimes, very theoretical, as I
said, um, and I feel like a lotof times I would feel quite lost
(07:09):
in the conversations that inclass, being like I have no idea
what these topics mean, whatthese terms, um.
So I had to try a lot harderthan everybody else.
I feel like and I remember likepeople were coming from like
internships at the UN and aninternship in Geneva and things
like that, and I was like I workin a pub you know what I mean
and I had some experience in themedia, but it was very
(07:30):
different from what we weredoing on this degree.
So that was a really goodexperience, but at the end of
that degree I think because Iwas so focused on keeping up
with everybody else in terms ofthe grades- and the assessments
and the exams focused on keepingup with everybody else in terms
of the grades and theassessments and the exams.
I did not do any of the otherpractical stuff that I was doing
, you know, just on my ownduring my journalism degree.
(07:51):
So, for example, GlasgowUniversity has a wonderful
student newspaper.
I was very active in my studentnewspaper in Sterling but I
never even went to a singlemeeting at this one because I
was just so focused on you, wereso busy the academics.
I just felt like that I didthat was a disadvantage to
myself because I left with this,this shiny degree, which I was
very proud of because it was achallenge, and said I did feel
(08:13):
like I had to try harder thanothers, perhaps to like get on
the same level, but I leftwithout much in the way of work
experience or vocational skills.
Judy Oskam (08:24):
Right, right.
And so what did you do then?
Then you came back here.
Bety Tellez Mora (08:28):
So at that time so that would have been end
of 2018, I think.
So I knew that there was.
I had some travel planned, sometrips planned in 2019.
Yeah, I had never taken a gapyear between high school, uni,
my master's, so I kind of wanteda bit of a break and I had my
cousin's wedding was coming upand that was going to be a huge
(08:48):
road trip around Mexico, whichis where I'm from.
Judy Oskam (08:51):
I don't know if I mentioned that, oh no.
Bety Tellez Mora (08:53):
I'm from Mexico City, so I knew that I
kind of didn't want to.
I wasn't throwing myself intolike job hunting right away,
sure, because I knew I had allthat coming up.
But I then did hit this pointof kind of having the
existential crisis of being inmy mid-20s, having these two
degrees.
But my work experience by thenwas not super recent anymore.
But you needed a break, I thinktoo right, I think so yeah.
(09:18):
And also it's harder being aninternational student.
It comes with its challenges,like I wasn't legally allowed to
work after my visa as a studentso I had to kind of ask myself
do I want to try to come back tothe camp, look for jobs that
would sponsor me?
Do I have to go back to Mexico?
Like all of that was happening.
But while I was exploring allthese questions, covid happened.
(09:41):
So that was actually kind of ablessing, in disguise, I have to
say, because I felt like Imyself was frozen, but then the
whole world kind of the wholeworld was frozen with me.
Yes, so it gave me a lot of timeto slow down and think of what
my next steps were.
And did you go back to MexicoCity?
My mom was living at the timein Athens, so I that's where I
(10:01):
spent most of the quarantine.
Um, but yeah, so during thattime, my one of my best friends,
warren.
He messaged me.
He was my friend from uni andhe said did you know that the UK
government has changed thepostgraduate visa situation?
Because when I was a student,you could only stay for three
months after your degree ended,which is really not that much
time, no, to look for a job andthen get your life together,
(10:22):
especially when you're thatyoung and you're new to job
hunting and interviewing and allthat stuff.
So the UK government at thattime introduced a two-year
postgraduate visa, which isstill the case today.
Um, and I thought this would begood for me.
Yeah, um, and I discussed itwith my family.
Obviously I know I'm in a veryprivileged position that I was
able to do that and go back.
(10:42):
I had my whole family was inScotland, like my friends, my,
my fiancee at the time, oh wow.
So Scotland was really where Iwanted to be so um.
So I decided to come back, but I, when I was looking for
master's, my prioritiescompletely changed.
I wasn't so concerned aboutrankings or you know.
I really just wanted to find acourse that was very vocational
(11:03):
in nature, very practical, handson.
And I came across the digitalcompanion and content creation
masters here in Margaret and itwas like very unique, like I
felt like there wasn't reallyanything like it in what we call
the central belt of Scotland.
So I applied to that.
I actually waited a yearbecause I didn't want to go into
it.
Well, covid was still very mucha thing.
(11:24):
Oh, you wanted to go on campus.
Yeah, so I waited, so I did goback to Mexico at that time.
Once I kind of made a decision,I went home, I applied to all
of the union from there and thenI came back to Scotland in
September 2021.
Judy Oskam (11:39):
Okay, yeah, Okay, so you took that degree then.
Bety Tellez Mora (11:43):
then you decided to really dive into that
whole content creation anddigital right yeah, because I
wanted to still, as I said, workin comms and media, but I felt
like and tell stories, right,yeah, I felt like my kind of I
realized that again the as muchas I do think eventually, maybe
that would be a route that Iwould explore.
I think marketing and PR is whatstarted to call my name a
(12:04):
little bit.
Um, and, as I said, mypriorities kind of completely
changed.
I was like I wasn't going toworry so much about getting
straight A's.
I wanted to take time out of myday to do other things that
would benefit me.
So, for example, one of thethings that I know I talked to
your students about was thestudent content creator role.
So that's a position that themarketing offers to our students
(12:24):
and that was advertised when Ihad just started and I was like
I need that job.
I was like I'm going to doeverything I can to get that job
because it's part-time, it'svery flexible, it was more than
part-time, it's like a freelanceopportunity.
So you just kind of pitch ideasand you get paid for them on a
like freelance type basis, andit was great experience.
It was obviously highlyrelevant to what I was doing and
(12:45):
what I wanted to do.
And I remember one time Iremember the day there was an
assessment that was due and Iwas like I could probably work
on that a little bit more or Icould spend more time on this
job application.
And I was like I'm going to dothe job application, I care
about that so much more and Idid well on my degree as well.
Judy Oskam (13:02):
So it's not to say that I completely neglected that
, but you didn't stress over thedegree.
You were focusing on the future, really Exactly.
Bety Tellez Mora (13:09):
And like all the other opportunities that I
could benefit from, because QMUoffers a lot of those kind of
things.
So, for example, another thingthat I did and that's the other
thing is this degree is builtwith that kind of in mind.
So one of our modules isindustry-based learning.
So you have to do an internship, you have to do work experience
, where that wasn't the casewith my other degrees.
(13:29):
So you're kind of forced to dothat which is good degrees, and
so you're kind of forced to dothat, which is good um.
So I I did a bit of working.
I work with a charity uh, basedhere at qmusical stack of
skills, so I did a bit of umstrategy for them.
I edited some videos for someof their campaigns and I did
some work with a new businessthat was working on um, like
couch tours in edinburgh, and Ialso did, obviously, the social
(13:53):
media content creator role,which that actually counted.
Those hours counted towards mydegree.
So it was like killing twobirds with one stone.
I was getting paid, but it wasalso part of my course, um.
So yeah, when I finished, thedegree kind of the timing was
perfect because my predecessorfor the role that I have just
now had just announced that shewas leaving.
So the job went up and Idecided to apply for it and I
(14:15):
got it.
Judy Oskam (14:15):
Oh, that's great.
Oh, that's great yeah.
Bety Tellez Mora (14:17):
It was a very it was really good timing.
Judy Oskam (14:20):
Well, and your timing?
You have a history of timingright.
You go here, you go there.
You make a change here and Ilove the fact that you're pretty
adaptable.
Is that part of how you operateand how you live, or have you
had to learn that?
Bety Tellez Mora (14:35):
I think it's probably because I grew up
moving around the world.
So my mom was she's now retiredbut she's a diplomat she was a
diplomat, so we kind of livedall over and I had to adapt to
new countries, new schools, andso I think when I was a kid I
hated it, because I hatedleaving my friends and starting
over, Sure, but I think that'skind of where that comes from
(14:57):
and, yeah, just kind of as Isaid, I think being an immigrant
, I should say because it's notjust in the context of an
international student, but beingan immigrant it comes with
those challenges and having toadapt and having to, yeah, just
go for it.
Judy Oskam (15:14):
Well, and now, when you work with students, do you
share that your journey to helpthem, because I think that's
important, to help themunderstand that they too can
make changes and zig and zag,and when they have to, do you
talk about that much?
Bety Tellez Mora (15:29):
Yeah, I think one of the main things that I've
kind of advised some of thestudents that I work with on is
that idea of like not gettingtoo caught up in trying to be
perfect and getting the perfectgrades and about making the most
of the opportunities that areoutside the classroom, if you
will, and like I think I gavethis example to your students
but like not feeling like you'renot good enough or just because
(15:51):
you don't meet the criteria,that maybe a job wants or you
know that you shouldn't try andgo for it, and because that's
how.
That's kind of what I've had todo a lot of the times is just
hope, you know, try my best andhope that, even if it's in my
head not something I'm qualifiedfor, that maybe I won't get
right, you still try right,right.
Judy Oskam (16:10):
Why do you think we're like them?
Why do you think we think thatwe need to know it all before we
jump in and start it?
Bety Tellez Mora (16:16):
I think honestly it's a women thing, do
you?
And it could be.
I feel like when I compare,like what I fear and what I,
when I like, doubt myself andthink I'm not good enough for
something, and then I compare itto male colleagues or male
students you know, back when Iwas at uni, like confidence
level is so different.
(16:37):
It might not be the case forevery single person, of course,
but I just do feel like we doubtourselves more and we feel like
, oh, I'm not qualified for thisor how, how am I going to do
this?
I don't think I can do this.
And that's another thing that Ilike to tell students is that
if you've been hired for a jobor you've been given a gig, it's
because the person believesthat you can do it, so you can
do it yeah, I think that, Ithink that's great and I think
(16:59):
too.
Judy Oskam (17:00):
How do you?
How do you then, uh, help, helpstudents really understand that
, um, that they're going to makemistakes, and we do make
mistakes and you know how do you?
Bety Tellez Mora (17:13):
moving forward it can be hard because, as I
said, my work with the studentsis a lot about them either
pitching ideas for me, givingthem tasks, and then they
execute the piece of content um,and it can be hard to tell them
like this is not good enough.
But because obviously I have aresponsibility to the university
to make sure that everythingthat we host is brand compliant
(17:33):
and it's appropriate and ofquality um, but I think, um,
just letting them know that initself is part of the process.
Like you are getting paid tolearn, so even if you don't get
it right the first time, that ispart of a part of the process.
And I think I've given um Idon't know if it's necessarily
to students, but definitely tomy classmates um, back when I
was a student, like that exampleof like me going on on that
(17:55):
internship for the localnewspaper in Edinburgh was a
very big deal and I was veryproud to get that, especially
because I said not everybody gotto do an internship um, but
that was in itself a learningexperience.
That that's not kind of, that'snot what I wanted to do really,
yes, um and at the time I I justremember thinking and it was
quite useful because we had wehad to do a reflective kind of
(18:16):
essay after the internship and Iremember thinking what am I
going to say?
But I was like that in itselfis a learning experience.
It taught me that I don't thinkthe skills I'm going to take
away with me and they're goingto serve me in other areas, but
I was like I just don't thinkdaily news is for me and that is
not necessarily a bad thing.
Judy Oskam (18:35):
Exactly.
Bety Tellez Mora (18:36):
Exactly.
Judy Oskam (18:37):
Well, and what?
How do you do?
What self-talk do you do toyourself?
I mean, how do you talk toyourself about seeing the
positive and moving forward?
Do you do self-coaching?
And and what are your tips andtricks?
Bety Tellez Mora (18:56):
I guess I would say I definitely have to
because, yeah, as I said, mycareer has not been linear.
So and I've taken that to heartLike I've definitely felt
self-conscious about the factthat, for example, I have three
degrees, but there was a pointwhere I had three degrees and
very little work experience andI found that embarrassing for
(19:17):
some reason, like I just hatedtelling people that.
I had three degrees, but threedegrees from prestigious
universities is a greataccomplishment and I, as I said,
I was proud, especially withthat Glasgow one because it was
so different from what I wasused to.
So it was like I definitelyworked really hard to get there.
But I just remember thinkinglike there's people that have
one degree and then they haveall these.
You know this wonderful careerthat you know.
(19:39):
But I had to be.
I have to remember to be kindto myself because my, as I said,
there is context to everything.
So obviously the fact that Igraduated from these courses but
then I wasn't really allowed tostay in the country for very
long meant that that obviouslyhindered me and that meant that
I would have to go back home andkind of go back to the drawing
(19:59):
board and figure out what mynext steps.
And all of that obviously tooktime.
And then COVID happened, when Iwas, I think, 25 or 26.
So that obviously put a pauseon my career and everything.
So, yeah, I think those werethings that I was really
self-conscious about and kind offelt really like not good
enough and, despite the factthat I said, most people would
(20:21):
have looked at me and be likeyou have three degrees.
Judy Oskam (20:22):
Like that's so impressive.
Bety Tellez Mora (20:24):
But I was like I just is.
I feel like it's almost like acop out, like that's how I felt
like I did these degrees becauseit was like the easier route,
which wasn't necessarily thecase.
But I said I was kind of it'snot easy yeah, it's not.
It's not um, but yeah, I think,when I look at it in hindsight,
I'm like, well, first of all,you, you got there eventually,
(20:46):
even though it was hard and itwasn't as easy as it could have
been for people that were bornin this country and they have
the right to live here.
Um, and you still got thereeventually.
Um, and, yeah, it wasn't linearand there were a lot of parts
where I was like I don't knowwhat's gonna happen next and I
still don't know because, like,my life is very unpredictable.
But, um, I think theself-coaching that I do to go
(21:07):
back to your question is, I kindof always remind myself that,
even at the worst moments andthe moments where I was most
anxious, I still kind of gotthere eventually, yeah, and you
still went forward.
You're still moving forward.
Yeah, okay, yeah.
Judy Oskam (21:23):
Good, well, look ahead five years.
What are you thinking and howdo you plan?
Do you plan every year or howmuch do you plan personally and
professionally?
Bety Tellez Mora (21:36):
I think I kind of stopped doing the well, to
be honest, I don't think I'veever been able to do like the
five-year plan, because eversince I was well, actually my
whole life with living abroad mymom and I never really knew
where we were going to be inlike a couple years because her
work was kind of unpredictablein that way.
So I knew that I was going tofinish high school in Rome, like
(21:57):
I think that was kind of agiven.
But then after that, obviouslyI went to university and I knew
that I had like at least fouryears where I was going to be in
that town at that uni.
So that was kind of easy toplan, I suppose.
But then I did my master's andI was like, okay, well, that's
another year, so I can lookforward to that year and plan
for that year, but not muchbeyond that.
(22:17):
And then after that that threwme into like a crisis because I
was like I don't know what'snext and also, for context, as I
said, my fiance at the time wasin Scotland, my mom was living
in Athens, so going back toMexico didn't feel like.
I didn't feel like I had aplace there, my brother's there
and I love my brother, but mylife was all over the place, all
around the world.
Judy Oskam (22:37):
So you're really an international person woman.
Yeah, I mean really so.
If you were to embrace that aspart of your story, and it
unfolds as as opportunitiesarise.
But the fact that you are adaptat living wherever you are is
amazing.
It's just really an amazing.
(22:58):
I could see a book in that.
I mean how, how can you adaptwherever you are and keep moving
forward?
And that forward doesn't needto be a linear path, so life is
not linear.
Bety Tellez Mora (23:11):
Yeah, and I think that's something that's
quite important.
That I've learned, especiallyfrom that period between my
master's in the politics masterand then to where I am now, is
that I didn't finish studyingand get a job.
You know, I finished studying,then I had to have a moment to
figure out what was next.
Then I had to go back touniversity and make the most of
(23:32):
that and really embrace all thevocational opportunities,
knowing that like that is what Ineeded the most, rather than
straight A's, and then I endedup with this job, but it wasn't
like from A to B, and that kindof gives me a little bit of
comfort, because I know that inthe future, if I have to go back
to the drawing board, I willprobably be fine.
Judy Oskam (23:54):
Yes, yes, if you get knocked down, you'll get
back up and your life might goso many different directions.
But how much does travel helpyou, uh, be adaptable and
understand different cultures?
Yeah, um, I think, as I said,for me, for example, I used to
(24:14):
kind of not resent my mompersonally but our lifestyle
because it was like I wanted tonot change, you know where I was
and, yeah, your friends, you'vegot friends there and you're a
kid and you don't want to leavethem.
Bety Tellez Mora (24:27):
Yeah, and I remember my cousin at the time.
She was trying to comfort mebut you're going to learn a new
language and I was like I don'tcare about learning.
Judy Oskam (24:34):
Italian.
Bety Tellez Mora (24:35):
Whereas now it's like I love that language.
I love that when I go back toItaly I can speak it.
Judy Oskam (24:39):
You speak Spanish, italian and English.
Oh my gosh.
Bety Tellez Mora (24:44):
And so, yeah, it's a beautiful thing because
Italy is one of my favoritecountries, it's one of my mom's
favorite countries, we have alot of emotional attachment to
it because we lived there for solong, and so being able to go
back and speak the language,it's just.
I think you experience cultureof different when you know the
lingo and the slang.
Sure, so it's been actually areally a really nice thing.
Judy Oskam (25:08):
But yeah, well, and I think you've been so gracious
to work with our students and Iknow you're for the listeners.
Our students have pitched Bettysome social media ideas and
you've been gracious to connectwith them and give them some
guidance and all of that.
And they're traveling and forsome of them the first time the
(25:29):
first time they've traveledinternationally.
So what advice would you givepeople who travel here to
Scotland?
They found that the people hereare just fantastic.
Bety Tellez Mora (25:38):
Yeah Well, I think, as Lynn mentioned in that
talk, I think they're alreadydoing the right thing by having
exposed themselves to thisopportunity and I think that's
really brave and really um, itis brave yeah, it is brave yeah
yeah, um, I actually rememberlike I wanted to do a study
abroad semester, but in the endI think the choice was between
(25:59):
the internship semester and thestudy abroad.
And I remember I think I kind ofwanted to go for the internship
but the idea of studying abroadkind of terrified me, even
though in theory I am studyingabroad.
Judy Oskam (26:08):
You are living abroad and studying at the same
time.
Bety Tellez Mora (26:10):
Yeah, but it was.
It was kind of like I do have alot of respect for people that
kind of put themselves in thatposition where they're going to
be gone for, you know, bycomplete by themselves, leaving
everything you know behind for ashort period of time.
But yeah, I think the theadvice I I would give them is
just to, as I said, takeadvantage of every opportunity.
So I think that you know thefact that they're pitching ideas
(26:31):
to me and like getting tounderstand how you know
different institutions,different organizations, might
have different approaches to youknow, for instance, one of your
students suggested an idea thatI was like this is really good,
but actually from ourperspective, we would prefer
this as opposed to what you'resuggesting.
Judy Oskam (26:46):
I saw that.
Bety Tellez Mora (26:47):
Yeah, that was a good teachable moment there
yeah it's good for them to kindof expose themselves to those
scenarios and those situations.
But I have to say I was veryinspired by your students,
because I'm kind of embarrassedto admit that I've not been
Arthur's seat yet.
Judy Oskam (27:01):
Me neither.
I don't know if I can make it,
Bety Tellez Mora (27:06):
So I mean, I've been living in .
for less than that, but still,yeah, and I was like the fact
that they'd only been here.
Judy Oskam (27:12):
What a couple of days a week or something, some
with, I think, the very firstday.
I was like I was reallyinspired by that, so yes, you
know, yes, I I am very impressedwith this group they have.
They have worked together welland they've gone out and met
people in the community andbusinesses and talked to
businesses.
They've met you guys and it'sbeen a really fun experience.
(27:34):
And two of them told me which Ididn't know that they really
thought right before the tripthey weren't going to go.
Oh, really they thought theymight just bail out and not go.
They were just scared.
Bety Tellez Mora (27:44):
I know that feeling so well of agreeing to
do something.
But you're like, okay, whatwould be my exit plan if I need
to Right and sometimes I don'tthink I've ever actually done
that.
But the very thought, the ideaof like, what's my backup plan
if I last minute decide I don'twant to do it.
But I think again, that'sreally important that they
(28:06):
realize I was in a positionwhere I almost didn't go, but I
did anyway, and that's that'ssomething that they should be
very proud of.
Judy Oskam (28:10):
I think so too.
And to get on a plane.
And one student said thehardest part of this trip so far
is just getting here yeahbecause they had to travel nine
hours on the plane by themselvesyeah, and then arrive in a new
land.
Bety Tellez Mora (28:24):
Now, luckily, English is the common language
here but the accent's a littlebit hard sometimes, so the
accent's a little hard tounderstand sometimes, but I
think it's been a fun experience.
Judy Oskam (28:37):
But your team has been great and we've been
following your social media andhow do you hope to shape that
social media presence movingforward?
How do you, how do you hope toshape that, that social media
presence moving forward?
What are you thinking?
Bety Tellez Mora (28:50):
There's loads of things that I would love to
do, but the one of, I think, thebiggest challenges and
something that I would reallylike to work towards is being
able to include all thedifferent aspects of the
university in a way that'scohesive, because there's so
many good things that are beingdone at the uni in terms of
research, different courses,different students doing a lot
of interesting things andextracurricular things that,
(29:12):
like, no one's asking them to do, but they do it because they
find it interesting andrewarding and stuff, and so
there's a lot of good stories totell.
But it's finding that balanceof.
We want to include what you'redoing, we want to share your
story, but also it has to bebrand compliant, it has to fit
in with the look and feel of thesocial media and our website
and our brand and stuff, andthat can be quite hard and time
(29:34):
consuming to do.
So that is something that Iwould say I definitely want to
focus more, especially over thenext year, and so is making sure
people feel like they can comeup to us as a team and say this
is happening and we're veryproud of this and we want to
share it with the university andother people to support them
and um, but again, in a way thatkind of strikes that balance of
(29:55):
you know, we have to be brandcompliant and and and follow our
guidelines and have our brandcolors and all that kind of
stuff.
And, yeah, just making surethat people feel like they're
included and we want to featurethem.
Judy Oskam (30:11):
Well, and that's the big feel of this university,
is you belong, you're includedwe're all together yeah.
I think that's sort of part ofthe culture here.
Bety Tellez Mora (30:19):
Yeah, and I have that experience as a
student and also a staff.
Oh, that's good to hear,because I love that about coming
here.
This is the smallest uni out ofthe three that I went to, so it
was really a very cozy,comfortable feeling coming in
and I feel like once you go toknow everyone, it was just, it
(30:39):
felt like I know it soundsreally cheesy, but it felt like
very at home.
Yeah, like I just just.
I was always very comfortablehere.
Um, I never had any feelings oflike anxiety or like oh, I
don't want to make a fool ofmyself because the classes were
so small, we all got to knoweach other.
Yeah, we're all we had reallygood relationships with our
lecturers, um, so that wasreally really lovely.
And I remember towards thebeginning of that class of that
(31:02):
course, thinking like, oh, Ithink it was probably gonna be,
it would be really nice to workhere, not thinking at all that
it would actually happen for me.
Um, but yeah, I, I just lovedthat as a student.
I think most people had areally positive student, a
positive experience, um, andthen when I got the job, I was
so relieved to find out that itwas very similar like nice again
(31:23):
, just because it's a small uni,and obviously I was probably an
advantage because I knew peoplefrom when I was a student, so
my former lecturers were now mycolleagues, you know things like
that.
But it's still that very smallcampus family kind of vibe and
it's really lovely.
When you come into the office,you like constantly bump into
people that you know, have achat and yeah, I feel like we
(31:45):
all kind of know each other.
Judy Oskam (31:46):
I love that.
I love that Well, and youmanifested your future in a way
and there's a lot to be said forputting things out there in the
universe and it comes back toyou and I just think I just
can't wait to see what you'regoing to do next with your
combination of your travel andall of that makes for a real
(32:09):
interesting life.
Bety Tellez Mora (32:09):
I think that's very kind.
Yeah, I think, as I said, it'sjust all about like trying
things even when you are notsure or when you think that you
might not be the right fit, orjust.
I'm really trying to embracethat because it's easier to say.
Judy Oskam (32:23):
But it's easy to say no, yeah, yeah, but I'm
still trying to embrace thatmyself.
Bety Tellez Mora (32:26):
In's easier to say, but it's easy to say no,
yeah, yeah, but I'm still tryingto embrace that myself in like
my everyday life.
I'm just exposing myself to asmany opportunities as possible.
Couldn't you know being here onyour podcast yes, you could
have said no you could have saidno, yeah, but I, I, just, I'm,
I'm really trying to embrace andexperiencing as many things as
possible?
Judy Oskam (32:43):
I love Well, thank you for saying yes.
Bety Tellez Mora (32:45):
Yeah, thank you for having me on Of course,
Thank you.
Judy Oskam (32:48):
Thanks so much for joining us on Stories of Change
and Creativity Scotland edition.
If you enjoyed this episode, besure and follow the podcast and
give us a like and a review.
It really helps more listenersdiscover these inspiring stories
.
Thanks for listening.
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