When Betsy Ellis Clements joined the family firm, she had to prove her worth
Betsy Ellis Clements joined the family firm, Gillis Ellis Baker (GEB), when she was a thirty-something marketing professional fresh from her first job in New York City. Now vice president of the 85-year old New Orleans-based insurance company, her breakthrough moment was realising she wanted to change her role to sales.
In New York City, Clements had thrived in a multi-faceted role as public relations officer, special events coordinator, and showroom manager for Waterford Wedgwood Royal Doulton. She had enjoyed the work, but it was during her first work meeting at GEB that she was inspired to make the switch.
Speaking to Wealth Professional, she says: “It was when talk turned to troubleshooting and how to get in front of favoured prospects,” that she felt inspired. Approaching her father, chairman R. Parke Ellis, after the meeting, she said: “I change my mind. I wanna do that [sales].”
Six years later, Clements was made vice president and a shareholder in the company, becoming, too, the first female owner of the agency in its almost one century long history.
Switching to sales, she believes, played a key part in her success: “In sales you can just let the numbers speak for themselves. As long as you’re hitting those goals, everyone knows you’re doing what you need to be doing,” she says.
Some may still wonder if being a family member might have assisted her ascent, but Clements says she had to prove herself.
“I get a little more scrutiny than some of the other producers here at my level. It’s definitely working hard [that led to the rise]. I know that I’m under the microscope. I don’t want to be perceived as taking any shortcuts and assuming any favoured treatment. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of avoiding that,” she says.
And being the daughter of the chairman did not shield her from sexism. While GEB has a strong female contingent, discriminatory attitudes have surfaced at some agencies which lack that advantage.
She says: “In an agency organisation you [can] get a couple of comments here and there that sort of elude to you being of the gentler or the weaker sex. You know that they know better: they’ve put in a lot of employment practices liability claims for their clients!”
In Clement’s experience, there’s no coasting for women: “You have to hustle twice as hard to prove that you can play with big boys,” she says.
