Beth Stephens has a constantly evolving job, and she loves it.
As president of Soapbox Influence, she’s not sure what her role doesn’t entail! Soapbox is an influencer marketing, social media and shopper insights agency.
“At its simplest, it’s my responsibility to be our primary storyteller and promoter as well as chief enthusiast and encourager,” Beth says. “This year, that has involved a lot of travel as we develop business and serve clients, along with a lot of saying yes to speaking engagements to share our story as well as best practices for our industry.”
She says the common thread to the work at Soapbox is that “we are crowdsourcing everything from user-generated content to product and packaging feedback from our national network of smart, savvy and social shoppers.” Soapbox’s community represents a cross-section of everyday people from all 50 states and beyond.
“Many of them happen to be bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers or Instagrammers, but at their very core, they are also real people who support their families and shop for their households. We tap into their skills and opinions to give the brands and retailers we serve better access to real content and real customers,” Beth says.
Soapbox has been serving clients since 2014, but wasn’t known by that name until the following year.
“I found a passion for the power of social media more than 10 years ago, and that passion has followed me through other roles and companies through the years. Our parent company really embraced and empowered my ideas and enabled Soapbox to come to life as an independent agency.”
Beth loves that Soapbox Influence embraces change and the idea that there’s nothing that can be broken.
“I often say that I’m trying to build the kind of company I would have loved to work for when I was in my 20s and 30s, first having kids and beginning to navigate the work world.”
Next month, Soapbox is hosting the Megaphone Summit, a regional event for bloggers, vloggers, podcasters and social media rockstars. Megaphone Summit is Aug. 9-11 in Bentonville. The conference is in its ninth year, and this is the first time it will be held in Bentonville. Beth says there’s a jam-packed agenda with exceptionally compelling speakers, and she can barely contain her excitement for this event. For more information on Megaphone Summit, visit www.megaphonesummit.com.
When she’s not working, Beth likes to keep her life simple. Beth’s happiest place is sitting on her deck in Bentonville with her husband and a glass of wine, hanging out with her sister, or spending time cooking or gardening with her girls. She has lived in Northwest Arkansas since 1998, noting that she moved around a lot while she was growing up. Beth only lived three weeks in her birthplace of Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time, her family was living in a country called Suriname (Dutch Guiana) in South America, so her mom came to the U.S. to be with family when Beth was born. She spent most of her childhood in Jamaica and graduated from high school in Wenatchee, Washington.
You can follow Beth on Instagram at @bethanystephens1. For more details on Soapbox Influence, visit www.soapboxinfluence.com and follow the company’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
We asked Beth 13 questions to find out a little more about this passionate storyteller.
13 with 3W
- Who is your biggest inspiration? Outside my immediate family, I would say Arianna Huffington is my recent inspiration. Her work to shift the corporate culture away from an addiction to busyness – and toward the concepts of wellbeing and thriving – is riveting to me.
- Heels or flats? Wedges! 🙂
- Favorite trip you’ve ever taken? Backpacking through Europe solo at 20.
- Sun or shade? Definitely sun.
- Beer or wine? Red wine for days.
- Brownies or cookies? Brownies!
- Best advice you’ve ever received? To keep a clean, organized desk. It’s simple but helps eliminate distraction and overwhelm better than anything else.
- Red or pink? Red
- Favorite movie? “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
- Eat in or dine out? Eat in! Preferably seared ahi prepped by my husband.
- Call or text? Text. And please give me grace, I’ll eventually respond.
- What makes you smile the most? A great pun or play on words gets me every time.
- Comedy or drama? Comedy. Always make me laugh.