As Managing Director and Executive Vice President of Sequent Consulting, Beth is responsible for the overall success of the Consulting division. In this role, Beth has multiple responsibilities including the overall management of the Consulting business, Chief Learning Officer for Sequent, Inc., and Practice Leader for the Organizational Development Practice.
As part of her background, Beth specializes in designing and leading Transformational Training and Large scale Change Initiatives. She has 20 years experience helping organizations through major transformations, such as mergers and acquisitions and organizational change.
Prior to joining Sequent, Beth was Sr. Vice President and Head of Retail Training Development and Planning at JP Morgan Chase. Before that she worked at Limited Brands in Columbus, where she lead the retailer’s Enterprise Learning Center and their Service Management practice (supporting all Limited Brands). Prior to that, Beth worked for the international brokerage firm, The Fritz Companies, Inc.
Beth is currently on the board of directors for the American Red Cross, Blood division. Beth is also an active volunteer where she has served on the Ohio Steering Committee for Operation Respect, Board of Directors for Willowbrook Christian Communities, Executive Director for Women in Technology, The Masie Center for Learning advisory board, and the Learning Decisions publication advisory board. She has also been a member of the American Society for Training and Development, Masie Center’s Consortium, Stepping Stones (Fund raising organization for Christian Education), National Association for Female Executives, and Mid Ohio Training Consortium.
Beth is a frequent national speaker and her professional work has been recognized with national awards and in several national-circulation magazines and newsletters. She is also a contributing editor on four books, On Demand Learning (Darin Hartley), Implementing eLearning (Jay Cross and Lance Dublin), , Learning Rants, Raves and Reflections (Elliott Masie) and most recently Lies about Learning (Larry Islaerite).
Do you use myspace, facebook, twitter, or other social networking sites? If so, how do we find you on those sites?
facebook - Beth A Thomas / Westerville, Ohio LinkedIn - Beth A Thomas
What books are you currently reading?
The PACT
What are your favorite books?
Danielle Steele Daniel Goleman John Grisham
Any message to your readers?
Find out what others say about the experience that Beth brings to not only her clients, but also her friends and family. Become a part of Beth's network and gain true insight into how you too can become POWERED BY HAPPY.
What People Are Saying About Beth: Beth is consistently ranked in the top 10% of speakers in all her speaking engagements.
“When I think of Beth Thomas, three adjectives instantly come to mind….passionate, forward-thinking and motivational. With these qualities, she creates an exciting and fun workplace that produces loyal employees and peers… refreshing to experience in today’s working world.” Michelle Bajorek, Limited Brands
“Beth Thomas brings attitude and expertise to an otherwise staid institution - the corporate training environment…her strategic approach to making training work for the business bottom line. She is a leader, an innovator, and a high-energy prophetess for future trends in the field.” Don Humphreys, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning Cedarville University
“Beth is truly exceptional. She has solid communication skills, brings great depth and understanding to resolving issues, and keeps her composure even when the chips are down. Her professionalism, positive attitude, and delivery engender confidence, while her smile and brightness keep her above the competition. She can make things happen.” Dave Sebenoler, President, Competitive Edge Solutions
“Beth is an extremely high-energy leader who sets high expectations for herself and her staff, and holds us all accountable. She is visionary and entrepreneurial in spirit, highly competent in her field of expertise and fun to work with.” Jackie Bovinet, Senior Human Capital Consultant, Sequent
“Beth is a breath of fresh air to any corporate environment. Her innovative ideas and unique approach to training delivery are second to none. She relishes in unchartered waters - - - willing to take calculated risks and deliver successful change. She defines "partner" on any initiative undertaken.” Steve Hughes, Vice President, JPMorgan Chase
What Clients Are Saying About Beth “We make better business decisions when Beth Thomas is involved” Karlin Bohnert, Senior Vice President, SVP Abercrombie & Fitch
“My experience with Beth Thomas has been a positive one and I would recommend her and her team to anyone” Michael Kingston, Chief Information Officer, Ann Taylor
“I believe her biggest strength is her ability to provide practical business advice depending on the facts and circumstances” Beth Stivers, Senior Vice President, Urban Brands
“Beth Thomas demonstrates a level of experience and depth of knowledge of corporate training that I have not seen in any consultants I have worked with” Jesse Napoli, Vice President, Ann Taylor
“The people you work with in the consulting industry make all the difference; Beth Thomas did an excellent job becoming part of our team truly looking out for our best interests and at the same time challenging us when needed” Beth McCormick, Senior Sr. Director, American Eagle
“The best example of Change Management was when Beth Thomas led a critical business transformation for our company” Kathleen Maurer, Head of HR, DSW
What is your book about? Please provide a description.
You’re about to find out. Powered by Happy is a pocket-sized blueprint that will show you how office happiness is accessible to anyone. It’s as easy as taking the time to train for it. That may sound a little nuts, but think about it this way: If you want to learn a new computer skill, you train for it. If you want to learn a new presentation skill, you train for it. If you want to learn to be happy during your day job—you’ve come to the right place. It’s not true that happiness comes only to those who were born with a naturally positive attitude or to those who have lots of money and plenty of good luck. It can be yours as well; you just need to cultivate it. Inside this book, you’ll find the tools you need to be happy every day. Not just a book of rah-rah rhetoric that gives you a big, sugary high of optimism only to leave you cold hours later, Powered by Happy offers techniques and tips to give you more personal freedom, positive feeling, deeper fulfillment, and less stress, regardless of your life or work circumstances. First, I’ll share how to create your own definition of happiness. Chapter One will challenge the myths of “what makes you really happy” and include step-by-step instructions for creating a specific definition of what happiness means to every reader. Chapter Two is about learning to choose happiness, to reprioritize your approach to being happy. That includes coping with the hard stuff and finding out how to own your attitude. In Chapter Three, you’ll learn how to break down barriers that stand in the way of your happiness. This chapter explains how worry, distorted thinking, and replaying negative stories in your mind can derail your plans to be happier and fulfilled. In Chapter Four you’ll learn how to build a support team of people who get it—and get rid of everyone else. And if you’re the type who’s always making a ‘to-do’ list, Chapter Five shows you how to replace it with something even bigger. In chapter 6, you’ll discover ways to take the “un” out of “unhappy,” and you’ll learn why being grateful has so much to do with it. Chapter 7 tackles the biggest investment you can make in your own happiness—and it might surprise you – and chapter 8 spells out ways to make happiness as much of a routine as your morning coffee. In chapter 9, you’ll discover a no-fail strategy to upping your happiness, and in chapter 10, we’ll wrap it up by looking at even more ways to inject some joy into your workday.
How long have you been at work on this book?
1 year to 18 months
How did the idea originate?
When I was first approached about writing my own book by a publisher from ASTD, my initial response was no. I felt I had said all I could say about learning in books I’d already contributed to. But the overwhelming reply was, “I don’t want you to write a book about learning, I want you to write a book about being happy! You have a spirit and a presence that makes people flock to you. You’re contagiously happy.”
Did the book entail any unusual writing habits or places?