Bety Téllez Mora's Path to a Creative Career

I'm teaching a three-week public relations course as part of Texas State University's Education Abroad program and along the way I'm sitting down with students , faculty and local professionals to capture their stories . From first-time travelers to creative pros . These conversations reveal how global experiences can shape who we are and how we communicate with the world .

I hope you enjoy our conversation .

I just went straight into journalism communications . I ended up at Sterling because had like really good rankings for that field and I wanted to to come to Scotland because I at the time I lived in Italy , um , and I wanted to stay in Europe . But Scotland is significantly cheaper than the rest of the UK .

Is this , yeah , okay for international students especially ? Yeah , so , um , yeah , that's kind of how I made my decision and I studied journalism , as I said , um , I had a really good time at Sterling . I had a lot of opportunities to um get work experience in broadcast radio , a little bit of magazine , a little bit newspapers , um .

But I think after , especially towards the end of that degree , I realized that I don't think journalism in the traditional sense of it . It was kind of really for me .

Okay , um , and I finished it by 2017 , 16 , something like that , um , and I think at the time I think I'm sure it's different now , but that degree , at that time that I was studying it , I don't think the higher education sector had fully caught up with digital media , so I was still very much being taught um kind of like old school journalism , like very

much focused on the newsroom , like , for example , I don't actually remember social media really being discussed much , right , until , maybe , like , all of our practical kind of modules started more in the third year , and even then it was quite limited . Some of us did an internship .

You could , like you could apply to do an internship as part of your course , but not even then everybody got to do it . It was kind of based on people's grades grades . So even the practical elements of that course were quite limited . It was all very much theory and essay writing and stuff , which I really love because I'm a massive nerd and .

I love writing essays . I'm very good at that kind of lone wolf kind of work , yeah , yeah , but it wasn't challenging me enough . As I said , it might be different now , but at the time I just felt like all of the experience that I got in the media was really from me . Kind of seeking out internships in the summer , which I

did a lot of at that time , um , but having worked in a newsroom , it was only like a one-week internship in a local paper here in Edinburgh um , I just realized it was too hectic of an environment for me . It was a little too stressful . It was very unpredictable . You weren't really sure . Like you know , things could change very quickly .

You could have spent like all this time working on a piece that was going to get scrapped , it's true , and it didn't help that everybody in the newsroom was kind of talking about redundancies and being scared of being laid off . So it was just all kind of like a um , an interesting experience .

It was really helpful and I'm really happy that I did it , but , um , I remember just thinking I don't know if this is for me necessarily , um , and maybe not a long-term career , so you were thinking ahead .

And there was this story of someone that had jumped of a building . They had committed suicide , oh my gosh . And the reaction in the newsroom was like , oh , couldn't he have waited two hours because it was gonna throw up everybody's schedules .

Yes , and I was like it was a very sobering experience because I understand like when you're dealing with like tragic stories all the time and very difficult subjects , you have to develop like a thick skin and a , you know , a sense of humor about it .

Right , but it was just like not that , that was my only deciding , but it was one of many things that I was just like I don't think this is for me , so I remember . One thing that I do remember is that I never questioned that I was going to go ahead and do a master's Like . That was always part of the plan . You always planned to do that yeah .

Because I loved academia . As I said , I loved writing essays .

And having had that experience in the newsroom , I was kind of like I think I want to do magazine journalism , maybe something that's a bit more slow-paced . You get to work on your pieces for a bit longer . In . You get to work on your pieces a bit longer In depth , in depth , yeah .

And I remember I had a lecturer at the time , eddie , who told me because I was like I kind of want to do magazine journalism as my master's , and he was like you don't need that , you already have the skills that you would learn in a magazine journalism degree . So he said go for something that would kind of complement your journalism degree .

So I said , ok , I think I'm going to go for politics . So that's when I decided to do that master's . It was called Human Rights , international Politics at Glasgow University . So I went straight into that after my journalism degree , which was a really good experience .

It was very challenging at first because not only was it a bit of a slightly more prestigious university , so the expectations were higher on the students . But I think everybody that went into 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 to try a bit harder to keep up with everybody else . It was very philosophical at times , very theoretical , as I said , um , and I feel like a lot of times I would feel quite lost in the conversations that in class , being like I have no idea what these topics mean , what these terms , um .

So I had to try a lot harder than everybody else . I feel like and I remember like people were coming from like internships at the UN and an internship in Geneva and things like that , and I was like I work in a pub you know what I mean and I had some experience in the media , but it was very different from what we were doing on this degree .

So that was a really good experience , but at the end of that degree I think because I was so focused on keeping up with everybody else in terms of the grades- and the assessments and the exams focused on keeping up with everybody else in terms of the grades and the assessments and the exams .

I did not do any of the other practical stuff that I was doing , you know , just on my own during my journalism degree . So , for example , Glasgow University has a wonderful student newspaper .

I was very active in my student newspaper in Sterling but I never even went to a single meeting at this one because I was just so focused on you , were so busy the academics .

I just felt like that I did that was a disadvantage to myself because I left with this , this shiny degree , which I was very proud of because it was a challenge , and said I did feel like I had to try harder than others , perhaps to like get on the same level , but I left without much in the way of work experience or vocational skills .

Yeah , I had never taken a gap year between high school , uni , my master's , so I kind of wanted a bit of a break and I had my cousin's wedding was coming up and that was going to be a huge road trip around Mexico , which is where I'm from .

But you needed a break , I think too right , I think so yeah . And also it's harder being an international student . It comes with its challenges , like I wasn't legally allowed to work after my visa as a student so I had to kind of ask myself do I want to try to come back to the 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 all these questions , covid happened . So that was actually kind of a blessing , in disguise , I have to say , because I felt like I myself was frozen , but then the whole world kind of the whole world was frozen with me . Yes , so it gave me a lot of time to slow down and think of what my next steps were .

And did you go back to Mexico City ? My mom was living at the time in Athens , so I that's where I spent most of the quarantine . Um , but yeah , so during that time , my one of my best friends , warren . He messaged me . He was my friend from uni and he said did you know that the UK government has changed the postgraduate 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 and then get your life together , especially when you're that young and you're new to job hunting and interviewing and all that stuff .

So the UK government at that time introduced a two-year postgraduate visa , which is still the case today . Um , and I thought this would be good for me . Yeah , um , and I discussed it with my family . Obviously I know I'm in a very privileged position that I was able to do that and go back .

I had my whole family was in Scotland , like my friends , my , my fiancee at the time , oh wow . So Scotland was really where I wanted to be so um . So I decided to come back , but I , when I was looking for master's , my priorities completely changed . I wasn't so concerned about rankings or you know .

I really just wanted to find a course that was very vocational in nature , very practical , hands on . And I came across the digital companion and content creation masters here in Margaret and it was like very unique , like I felt like there wasn't really anything like it in what we call the central belt of Scotland . So I applied to that .

I actually waited a year because I didn't want to go into it . Well , covid was still very much a thing . Oh , you wanted to go on campus . Yeah , so I waited , so I did go back 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 then I came back to Scotland in September 2021 .

I think marketing and PR is what started to call my name a little bit . Um , and , as I said , my priorities kind of completely changed . I was like I wasn't going to worry so much about getting straight A's . I wanted to take time out of my day to do other things that would benefit me .

So , for example , one of the things that I know I talked to your students about was the student content creator role . So that's a position that the marketing offers to our students and that was advertised when I had just started and I was like I need that job .

I was like I'm going to do everything I can to get that job because it's part-time , it's very flexible , it was more than part-time , it's like a freelance opportunity . So you just kind of pitch ideas and you get paid for them on a like freelance type basis , and it was great experience .

It was obviously highly relevant to what I was doing and what I wanted to do . And I remember one time I remember the day there was an assessment that was due and I was like I could probably work on that a little bit more or I could spend more time on this job application .

And I was like I'm going to do the job application , I care about that so much more and I did well on my degree as well .

So you have to do an internship , you have to do work experience , where that wasn't the case with my other degrees . So you're kind of forced to do that which is good degrees , and so you're kind of forced to do that , which is good um . So I I did a bit of working .

I work with a charity uh , based here at qmusical stack of skills , so I did a bit of um strategy for them . I edited some videos for some of their campaigns and I did some work with a new business that was working on um , like couch tours in edinburgh , and I also did , obviously , the social media content creator role , which that actually counted .

Those hours counted towards my degree . So it was like killing two birds with one stone . I was getting paid , but it was also part of my course , um . So yeah , when I finished , the degree kind of the timing was perfect because my predecessor for the role that I have just now had just announced that she was leaving .

So the job went up and I decided to apply for it and I got it .

So my mom was she's now retired but she's a diplomat she was a diplomat , so we kind of lived all over and I had to adapt to new countries , new schools , and so I think when I was a kid I hated it , because I hated leaving my friends and starting over , Sure , but I think that's kind of where that comes from and , yeah , just kind of as I said , I

think being an immigrant , I should say because it's not just in the context of an international student , but being an immigrant it comes with those challenges and having to adapt and having to , yeah , just go for it .

like not feeling like you're not good enough or just because you don't meet the criteria , that maybe a job wants or you know that you shouldn't try and go for it , and because that's how .

That's kind of what I've had to do a lot of the times is just hope , you know , try my best and hope that , even if it's in my head not something I'm qualified for , that maybe I won't get right , you still try right , right .

It might not be the case for every single person , of course , but I just do feel like we doubt ourselves more and we feel like , oh , I'm not qualified for this or how , how am I going to do this ? I don't think I can do this .

And that's another thing that I like to tell students is that if you've been hired for a job or you've been given a gig , it's because the person believes that you can do it , so you can do it yeah , I think that , I think that's great and I think too .

But because obviously I have a responsibility to the university to make sure that everything that we host is brand compliant and it's appropriate and of quality um , but I think , um , just letting them know that in itself is part of the process .

Like you are getting paid to learn , so even if you don't get it right the first time , that is part of a part of the process .

And I think I've given um I don't know if it's necessarily to students , but definitely to my classmates um , back when I was a student , like that example of like me going on on that internship for the local newspaper in Edinburgh was a very big deal and I was very proud to get that , especially because I said not everybody got to do an internship um , but

that was in itself a learning experience . That that's not kind of , that's not what I wanted to do really , yes , um and at the time I I just remember thinking and it was quite useful because we had we had to do a reflective kind of essay after the internship and I remember thinking what am I going to say ?

But I was like that in itself is a learning experience . It taught me that I don't think the skills I'm going to take away with me and they're going to serve me in other areas , but I was like I just don't think daily news is for me and that is not necessarily a bad thing .

So and I've taken that to heart Like I've definitely felt self-conscious about the fact that , for example , I have three degrees , but there was a point where I had three degrees and very little work experience and I found that embarrassing for some reason , like I just hated telling people that .

I had three degrees , but three degrees from prestigious universities is a great accomplishment and I , as I said , I was proud , especially with that Glasgow one because it was so different from what I was used to . So it was like I definitely worked really hard to get there .

But I just remember thinking like there's people that have one degree and then they have all these . You know this wonderful career that you know . But I had to be . I have to remember to be kind to myself because my , as I said , there is context to everything .

So obviously the fact that I graduated from these courses but then I wasn't really allowed to stay in the country for very long meant that that obviously hindered me and that meant that I would have to go back home and kind of go back to the drawing board and figure out what my next steps . And all of that obviously took time .

And then COVID happened , when I was , I think , 25 or 26 . So that obviously put a pause on my career and everything . So , yeah , I think those were things that I was really self-conscious about and kind of felt really like not good enough and , despite the fact that I said , most people would have looked at me and be like you have three degrees .

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 , even though it was hard and it wasn't as easy as it could have been for people that were born in this country and they have the right to live here . Um , and you still got there eventually .

Um , and , yeah , it wasn't linear and there were a lot of parts where I was like I don't know what's gonna happen next and I still don't know because , like , my life is very unpredictable .

But , um , I think the self-coaching that I do to go back to your question is , I kind of always remind myself that , even at the worst moments and the moments where I was most anxious , I still kind of got there eventually , yeah , and you still went forward . You're still moving forward . Yeah , okay , yeah .

years . What are you thinking and how do you plan ? Do you plan every year or how much do you plan personally and professionally ?

So I knew that I was going to finish high school in Rome , like I think that was kind of a given . But then after that , obviously I went to university and I knew that I had like at least four years where I was going to be in that town at that uni . So that was kind of easy to plan , I suppose .

But then I did my master's and I was like , okay , well , that's another year , so I can look forward to that year and plan for that year , but not much beyond that .

And then after that that threw me into like a crisis because I was like I don't know what's next and also , for context , as I said , my fiance at the time was in Scotland , my mom was living in Athens , so going back to Mexico didn't feel like .

I didn't feel like I had a place there , my brother's there and I love my brother , but my life was all over the place , all around the world .

I mean how , how can you adapt wherever you are and keep moving forward ? And that forward doesn't need to be a linear path , so life is not linear .

Then I had to go back to university and make the most of that and really embrace all the vocational opportunities , knowing that like that is what I needed the most , rather than straight A's , and then I ended up with this job , but it wasn't like from A to B , and that kind of gives me a little bit of comfort , because I know that in the future , if I

have to go back to the drawing board , I will probably be fine .

Yeah , um , I think , as I said , for me , for example , I used to kind of not resent my mom personally but our lifestyle because it was like I wanted to not change , you know where I was and , yeah , your friends , you've got friends there and you're a kid and you don't want to leave them .

Sure , so it's been actually a really a really nice thing .

And they're traveling and for some of them the first time the first time they've traveled internationally . So what advice would you give people who travel here to Scotland ? They found that the people here are just fantastic .

internship semester and the study abroad . And I remember I think I kind of wanted to go for the internship but the idea of studying abroad kind of terrified me , even though in theory I am studying abroad .

But yeah , I think the the advice I I would give them is just to , as I said , take advantage of every opportunity .

So I think that you know the fact that they're pitching ideas to me and like getting to understand how you know different institutions , different organizations , might have different approaches to you know , for instance , one of your students suggested an idea that I was like this is really good , but actually from our perspective , we would prefer this as opposed to what

you're suggesting .

They've met you guys and it's been a really fun experience . And two of them told me which I didn't know that they really thought right before the trip they weren't going to go . Oh , really they thought they might just bail out and not go . They were just scared .

But I think again , that's really important that they realize I was in a position where I almost didn't go , but I did anyway , and that's that's something that they should be very proud of .

and we've been following your social media and how do you hope to shape that social media presence moving forward ? How do you , how do you hope to shape that , that social media presence moving forward ? What are you thinking ?

students doing a lot of interesting things and extracurricular things that , like , no one's asking them to do , but they do it because they find it interesting and rewarding and stuff , and so there's a lot of good stories to tell . But it's finding that balance of .

We want to include what you're doing , we want to share your story , but also it has to be brand compliant , it has to fit in with the look and feel of the social media and our website and our brand and stuff , and that can be quite hard and time consuming to do .

So that is something that I would say I definitely want to focus more , especially over the next year , and so is making sure people feel like they can come up to us as a team and say this is happening and we're very proud of this and we want to share it with the university and other people to support them and um , but again , in a way that kind of

strikes that balance of you know , we have to be brand compliant and and and follow our guidelines and have our brand colors and all that kind of stuff . And , yeah , just making sure that people feel like they're included and we want to feature them .

This is the smallest uni out of the three that I went to , so it was really a very cozy , comfortable feeling coming in and I feel like once you go to know everyone , it was just , it felt like I know it sounds really cheesy , but it felt like very at home . Yeah , like I just just . I was always very comfortable here .

Um , I never had any feelings of like anxiety or like oh , I don't want to make a fool of myself because the classes were so small , we all got to know each other . Yeah , we're all we had really good relationships with our lecturers , um , so that was really really lovely .

And I remember towards the beginning of that class of that course , thinking like , oh , I think it was probably gonna be , it would be really nice to work here , not thinking at all that it would actually happen for me . Um , but yeah , I , I just loved that as a student .

I think most people had a really positive student , a positive experience , um , and then when I got the job , I was so relieved to find out that it was very similar like nice again , just because it's a small uni , and obviously I was probably an advantage because I knew people from when I was a student , so my former lecturers were now my colleagues , you know

things like that . But it's still that very small campus 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 a chat and yeah , I feel like we all kind of know each other .

Couldn't you know being here on your podcast yes , you could have said no you could have said no , yeah , but I , I , just , I'm , I'm really trying to embrace and experiencing as many things as possible ?