Spotlight on…Dr Blakeslee

When you meet Dr. Betsey Blakeslee, you are likely to get a warm welcome and a big hug. She radiates positive energy and excitement as she talks about her latest endeavor, restoring historic sites on the Revolutionary War Supply Trail at West Point. When talking to Dr. Blakeslee, you can’t help but feel motivated and engaged about this project and its importance in her life and in maintaining the link to the past. But this is only the latest project that she has undertaken in a career that started in 1970 as an English teacher in Germany. Along the way she learned some great lessons, made amazing friends, and changed her community for the better.

As the wife of an army doctor who retired after 30 years of service in 1990 and then returned to active duty in 2009, Dr. Blakeslee was able to not only have a professional career, but a career that included high level positions such as the President and CEO of US West Network Systems, the Executive Liaison for The Center For Total Access at Fort Gordon, the Executive Director of the National Commission on Workplace Learning and Technology under the Secretary of Labor, and the Chair of the Mass Communications Department at Piedmont College in Georgia. Although her path isn’t typical, Dr. Blakeslee’s positive attitude, as well as the skills she acquired as an army spouse helped her navigate a successful career path, even when being a working woman wasn’t socially acceptable.

Mainly focused in telecommunications, Dr. Blakeslee lets her passions dictate her career, not the other way around. Dr. Blakeslee is a force to be reckoned with as well as a nurturing figure and mentor to many younger military spouses. It’s encouraging to know that a military spouse could attain and succeed in extremely high-level jobs while leading a transient military life style. Luckily, on a rainy day at West Point, Dr. Blakeslee agreed to sit down with me to share some of her secrets on how she cultivated her own rewarding career while still supporting her husband’s successful military career.

Be Positive and Never Accept No.

Dr. Blakeslee knows first hand the difficulties of being a military spouse with a career. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and English with a teaching certificate from Marymount College. She applied for her first job in 1970, soon after her husband graduated from West Point. When they moved to Germany, she wanted to work as an English teacher for soldiers looking to earn their GED. When she submitted her resume, the employment office said they did not hire the wives of officers because it was against policy. She remembers how furious she was to hear this, but says it was a great lesson in cultivating one of her critical skills in dealing with setbacks. Instead of immediately reacting, she processed the situation, and then made it her mission to change the system. After an extensive letter writing campaign, she ended up being the first military spouse allowed to teach in the GED program in Baumholder. As a result of her hard work, six of her friends were also hired, and military spouses have been able to apply for these jobs ever since.

Dr. Blakeslee has always been driven by justice and fights hard to correct the injustices she finds. She says: “I believe that if it’s the right thing to do and I keep doing it long enough, I can fix the problem.” This tenaciousness and positive attitude didn’t just help her find a teaching job in Germany. After she and her husband were stationed in Colorado, she couldn’t find a job even though she was completing a PhD in American Culture Studies and had done an internship with a large consulting firm. After much thought and support from her family and friends, she decided to start her own consulting firm to provide organizational culture analysis for companies. It took eight months to get her first client, but when she did, she proved to be extremely successful and developed programs and initiatives for many major companies in Denver. Dr. Blakeslee’s advice for being successful is to “Generate positive energy, and get immersed in something you are passionate about. If you do that, you will always love what you are doing, and it will make the journey with your spouse more rewarding.”

Don’t Worry about Career Progression.

Many times we feel stressed out about constant change as military spouses. The Army even has a catch phrase about this, encouraging us to “be comfortable with uncertainty.” Dr. Blakeslee says there is a better way to think about all the changes in our lives. Instead of being comfortable with uncertainty, we should focus on embracing opportunities. Every time we move, we are given new opportunities to expand our own professional network. Relocating can also help you gain skills that you may be able to use in a new job in your next duty assignment. The trick is to not get wrapped up in “career progression” and worrying about whether you are going to find a new job. Dr. Blakeslee says the key to maintaining your sanity as a military spouse is to cultivate the patience to wait for a job or activity that is inspires your passion. You’ll be happier, which will improve your family life as well as your own personal satisfaction.

Dr. Blakeslee experienced this when they were transferred from Washington State to Washington DC. She says “If you had asked me at this point whether I would have gotten involved in the telecommunications field, I probably would have laughed,” because her undergraduate degree is in the liberal arts. But by following her passions, that’s exactly where she ended up. It started when she was advised by a professor in her English masters program to consider a PhD program in American Studies at the University of Maryland. She applied to the program and was accepted. She completed the coursework in four years. Ultimately, after an internship in assessing organizational culture and the successful launch of her own consulting firm, Dr. Blakeslee had become an expert in the relationship between organizational culture and leadership skills. The top executives at US West Network Communications noticed this. They were so impressed with her consulting and leadership abilities, as well as her work in marketing and organizational culture, that they asked her to serve as the President and CEO of a new subsidiary creating graphic network management systems. “I would never have been able to accomplish any of this if I had not been passionate about learning more about American culture and certainly could not have predicted this outcome. l realized that becoming an expert in how organizational culture affects businesses was something that was fascinating to me. I felt energized, and it made me excited about my work.” And she could have missed some great opportunities if she had worried about doing the right thing to get a job. She says if she had been worried about that, she probably would not have pursued the doctorate in American Studies. “What could you do with that degree?” she asked. “Following the path of something that incites your passion has led to many amazing opportunities for me.”

Sometimes it can be easy to think negatively about moving, especially because it always seems that our spouses are called to move just as we are getting established professionally. Dr. Blakeslee remembers moving when she was the President and CEO for US West Network Communications. “When I found out we were being transferred yet again, I felt very angry with the Army. I was finally rocking and rolling in my career, and I was doing what I was passionate about. But I was angry in a way that your leg is broken, and you have to deal with it. There was no option for my husband to get out of the Army at that point, so I focused on the positive aspects of the move.” While she didn’t get a great job immediately after relocating, she did eventually get called by the Secretary of Labor to be the Executive Director of the National Commission on Workplace and Learning and Technology, an extremely rewarding job that she loved, and which might not have been possible without moving at that time in her career.

Maintain a Supportive Network.

When moving, Dr. Blakeslee says one of the things that helped her to be successful is that she works to maintain the ties with the people she has met in different duty locations. She says that part of her success was that she was mentored by several high-powered men (there were few women in high places at that time) and developed a close network of women peers. Whether these women were career-minded was less important to her than that these women were supportive. Positive energy and being involved in activities that you are passionate about will draw people to you who share your values. That support can be critical. Surround yourself with positive, supportive women, including those who have made different choices. Dr. Blakeslee’s says “I always admired one of my best friend’s life and her choice not to work outside the home. In many ways, her life was often more grounded and centered than mine and we shared many similar experiences while making different career choices I always admired her volunteer work. It’s not a work outside the home or not work choice.” Instead it is being surrounded by people who are positive and share an energy and passion that make the journey worthwhile.

Maintaining a supportive network is also critical in helping you stay grounded. Usually if you are in a place where you feel uncomfortable, or something doesn’t feel right, it could be because you are focused on your ego instead of achieving a meaningful goal. “When it feels like things in your life going off a cliff, first ask yourself “What is my true motivation? Then, if you still don’t feel right, sit down with someone who is objective in the situation who can give you unbiased advice.” This is a skill that Dr. Blakeslee sees in the most successful of her peers.

Balance is Hard. Forgive Yourself.

Balancing your spouse, his or her service, your children and your own career is a job in its own right. There’s no doubt that being a military spouse is challenging. From deployments, to long hours, to frequent moves, it can be a lot to handle even if the non-military spouse wants to nurture a career. Dr. Blakeslee admits that there is no right answer when deciding what job to take, or even to continue to work. “I don’t feel like I have to have a plan,” she says. “Worrying about having a plan is a waste of energy. It can also create paranoia, which I suffered from a lot when I was younger. I would ask questions, like “Will anybody want to hire me?” Instead, don’t worry about career building. You are gaining skills and you have no idea how you are going to use them in the future. Something could come up that is not in your career plan. If you are passionate about it, follow your instinct, because you never know what might happen.” That is some of the best advice I have ever heard, and I hope I am wise enough to follow it.

Dr. Betsey Blakeslee at a Glance…

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Theater with a certificate in teaching from Marymount College, Master of Arts in American Literature from DePaul University, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Maryland.

Jobs Held

English teacher for soldiers earning their GED; Actress for training videos in Chicago, English teacher at an all boys high school in Chicago; internship at global consulting firm TPF&C; CEO of her own consulting firm in Colorado, President and CEO of US West Network Systems; Director of Executive Leadership Development US West, Appointed by the Secretary of the Army to be the Executive Liaison for the Center for Total Access at Fort Gordon; the Executive Director of the National Commission on Workplace Learning and Technology under the Secretary of Labor; Chair of the Mass Communications Department at Piedmont College and Faculty President.

Current Project

She is coordinating the restoration and preservation of Kosciusko’s Garden and the Revolutionary War Supply Trail Preservation at West Point. Her efforts are geared toward preventing the erosion of these historic sites built during 1776-1780, and her latest efforts are geared toward restoring the path that connects Kosciusko’s Garden to Flirtation Walk.

Most important Lesson Learned

You really have to focus on the present, and manage your anxiety, and worry less about a “career plan” rather than following an area that incites your passion Women need to support each other and create a strong network.